A DAY AT CCC AND CJC ACE

A THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

2011-11-18T08:28:00.001-08:00

U.S. President John Kennedy said, The goal of education is the advancement of knowledge and the dissemination of truth.

BRAIN FOOD THAT HELP YOU CONCENTRATE

2011-11-16T09:44:00.000-08:00

Ginseng, Fish, Berries, or Caffeine?
Listen to the buzz about foods and dietary supplements and you'll believe they can do everything from sharpen focus and concentration, to enhance memory, attention span, and brain function.
But do they really work? There's no denying that as we age chronologically, our body ages right along with us. The good news is that you can increase your chances of maintaining a healthy brain -- if you add "smart" foods and beverages to your diet.

Caffeine Can Make You More Alert
There's no magic bullet to boost IQ or make you smarter -- but certain substances, like caffeine, can energize and help you focus and concentrate. Found in coffee, chocolate, energy drinks, and some medications, caffeine gives you that unmistakable wake-up buzz -- though the effects are short term. And more is often less: Overdo it on caffeine and it can make you jittery and uncomfortable.
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Sugar Can Enhance Alertness
Sugar is your brain's preferred fuel source -- not table sugar, but glucose, which your body metabolizes from the sugars and carbohydrates you eat. That's why a glass of something sweet to drink can offer a short-term boost to memory, thinking processes, and mental ability.
Consume too much, however, and memory can be impaired -- along with the rest of you. Go easy on the sugar so it can enhance memory, without packing on the pounds.

Eat Breakfast to Fuel Your Brain
Tempted to skip breakfast? Studies have found that eating breakfast may improve short-term memory and attention. Students who eat breakfast tend to perform significantly better than those who don’t. Foods at the top of researchers' brain fuel list include high-fiber whole grains, dairy, and fruits. Just don't overeat; researchers also found high-calorie breakfasts appear to hinder concentration.

Fish Really is Brain Food
A protein source associated with a great brain boost is fish -- rich in omega 3 fatty acids, essential for brain function and development. These healthy fats have amazing brain power: higher dietary omega 3 fatty acids are linked to lower dementia and stroke risks; slower mental decline; and may play a vital role in enhancing memory, especially as we get older.
For brain and heart health, eat two servings of fish weekly.

Add a Daily Dose of Nuts and Chocolate
Nuts and seeds are good sources of the antioxidant vitamin E, which is associated with less cognitive decline as you age. Dark chocolate also has other powerful antioxidant properties. And it contains natural stimulants like caffeine, which can enhance focus and concentration.
Enjoy up to an ounce a day of nuts and dark chocolate to provide all the benefits you need without excess calories, fat, or sugar.

Add Avocados and Whole Grains
Every organ in the body depends on blood flow, especially the heart and brain. Eating a diet high in whole grains and fruits like avocados can reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease and lower bad cholesterol. This reduces your risk of plaque buildup and enhances blood flow, offering a simple, tasty way to fire up brain cells.
Whole grains, like popcorn and whole wheat, also contribute dietary fiber and vitamin E. Though avocados have fat, it's the good-for-you, monounsaturated fat that contributes to healthy blood flow.

GREGOR MENDEL

2011-07-20T09:08:00.000-07:00

Un monje austriaco desarrolló en 1865 los principios fundamentales de lo que hoy conocemos como “genética”. Gregor Mendel demostró que las características heredables son aportadas mediante unidades discretas que se heredan por separado. Estas unidades discretas, que Mendel llamó “elemente”, se conocen hoy como genes.

Términos como “gen”, “clon” o “ADN” nos son completamente familiares. A diario vemos noticias sobre estos temas, y damos por sentado que se tratan de ciencias nacidas en los últimos años. Pero no siempre es verdad. El verdadero padre de la revolución que representa la genética y que de alguna manera ha hecho posible la clonación de animales (y, según algunos, inclusive de humanos), nació en el 22 de julio de 1822 en un pueblo de la actual República Checa.

Hijo de un veterano de las guerras napoleónicas y la hija de un jardinero, vivió una infancia marcada por la pobreza. En 1843 ingresó en un monasterio agustino de Königskloster, donde fue ordenado sacerdote en 1847. Más tarde se trasladó a la Universidad de Viena para seguir una carrera docente. En 1851 el sacerdote conseguía el titulo de Doctor en Matemáticas y Ciencias, gracias a lo cual, tres años mas tarde se convertiría en profesor suplente de la Real Escuela de Brünn.

Gregor Mendel siempre fue muy observador. A pesar de su formación religiosa, el científico que había en el reparaba en detalles que a sus pares a menudo se le pasaban por alto. Gran amante de la naturaleza, gustaba de dar largas caminatas por los alrededores del monasterio. Quizás todos estos factores hicieran inevitables que comenzase a notar sutiles variaciones en las plantas que veía en sus derroteros.

Fue así como en uno de sus paseos se encontró una variedad extraña de una planta ornamental que era muy común por aquellos lugares. Mendel no pudo más que preguntarse como era posible que esa planta hubiese obtenido esas características irregulares. Sin dudarlo, Gregor tomó esa planta anómala y la llevo consigo, para plantarla al lado de un ejemplar de la variedad normal. Sin saberlo, este pequeño experimento que llevaba a cabo en 1856 seria el que despertaría en el su gran capacidad de investigador.

En esa época ya se sabía que para obtener una nueva planta la flor de una debía ser polinizada con el polen de otra. Por supuesto, nadie había estudiado en profundidad las implicaciones de este mecanismo. Gregor dedicó los cinco años siguientes a la botánica. Mantuvo un pequeño jardín en monasterio, en el que tenia una gran variedad de plantas fertilizadas artificialmente. De forma rutinaria cruzaba una con otras, e iba anotando los resultados de sus experimentos. La primera fase de su análisis consistió en la obtención, mediante cultivos convencionales previos, de líneas puras de cada planta. Esto le proporciono una gran variedad de semillas para experimentar.

Luego, de manera metódica, cruzó estas estirpes de dos en dos, mediante la técnica de polinización artificial. De este modo le era posible combinar variedades diferentes de una misma planta, que presentaban distintas y muy precisas características entre sí. Algunas variedades tenían semillas lisas, otras arrugadas; o bien presentaban flores blancas unas y flores coloreadas las otras. Mendel quería comprender que ocurría al cruzar una con otra.
Sus trabajos en el jardín le permitieron a Mendel enunciar sus famosas tres leyes de la herencia, también conocidas como “leyes de Mendel”. Básicamente, Gregor descubrió que, mediante el cruzamiento de razas que difieren en al menos dos caracteres, se pueden crear nuevas razas estables. Sus trabajos fueron la base de todos los descubrimientos efectuados sobre los mecanismos de la herencia.

Las tres leyes de Mendel
Las conclusiones obtenidas por Mendel luego de años de trabajos en su jardín y de miles de cruzas realizadas, pueden resumirse en sus tres leyes:

La primera ley, también llamada "Ley de la uniformidad de los híbridos de la primera generación", enuncia que “cuando se cruzan dos individuos de idéntica especie correspondientes a dos líneas puras y que difieren en el aspecto que presenta un mismo carácter, los descendientes muestran una homogeneidad en la característica estudiada y todos heredan el carácter de uno de los progenitores (llamado “factor dominante”), mientras que el del otro parece haberse perdido, o bien, presentan un rasgo intermedio entre los dos de los padres.”. En el último caso, se dice que hay “codominancia”.

La segunda ley, conocida como "Ley de la separación o disyunción de los alelos", nos dice que los factores hereditarios (mas tarde llamados genes) constituyen unidades independientes, que se transfieren de una generación a otra sin sufrir modificación alguna. Al cruzar entre sí los descendientes obtenidos de la reproducción de dos líneas puras, se observa que el carácter recesivo (el que no se manifiesta), transmitido por uno de los progenitores, se hace patente en la segunda generación filial en la proporción de ¼. Esto implica que el carácter dominante se da en las 3/4 partes de los descendientes. Cada pareja de genes que determinan el carácter estudiado y que se hallan presentes en un determinado individuo se separan y al formarse las células reproductoras se combinan al azar.

La tercera ley, llamada "Ley de la independencia de los caracteres no antagónicos", afirma que cada carácter es heredado con total independencia de los restantes caracteres. Mendel debió cruzó plantas que diferían en dos caracteres (dihíbridos) y cuyo genotipo era, por ejemplo, AaBb para llegar a esta conclusión. Al formarse las células reproductoras, se originan cuatro tipos distintos (AB, Ab, aB y ab), que se combinarán de todas formas posibles con los mismos tipos del otro individuo. En total se obtienen 16 genotipos posibles.

Como suele ocurrir en estos casos, los trabajos de Mendel estaban años por delante de los de sus colegas. De hecho, la mayoría de los científicos de la época no se habían siquiera planteado las preguntas que se hizo Mendel durante sus paseos por el monasterio. Como consecuencia de ello, y a pesar de haber demostrado con pruebas concretas la real de la existencia de genes ya en 1866 (año en que publicó sus resultados en las memorias de la Sociedad de naturalistas de Brünn, con el título “Ensayos sobre los híbridos vegetales”), no trabajo fue reconocido durante su vida.

En 1900, el trabajo de Mendel fue duplicado por tres científicos (Hugo de Vries, Karl Erich Correns y Erich Tschermack), 26 años después de la muerte de Gregor Mendel. La comunidad científica comenzó a interesarse en los mecanismos de transmisión de características genéticas, y poco a poco comenzó a nacer una ciencia que, en la actualidad, seria capaz de obtener duplicados exactos de seres vivos, mediante procedimientos de clonación.

THIS ARTICLE SHOULD BE READ IF YOU WANT TO SUCCEED IN LIFE

2011-04-02T08:18:00.000-07:00

Double Your Personal Power by Mastering One Simple Strategy I've Used to Make a Fortune
By Michael Masterson

In any organization, power moves inexorably to those who speak well.

By well, I don't mean eloquently. I mean persuasively. There is an art and a skill to persuading people to accept your ideas. In today's essay I will tell you about the simple, four-part strategy that I use.

It is a strategy that is responsible for a great deal of the success I've had in business. It can be used online, on the phone, and in person. And you'll be able to use it as soon as you finish reading this.

But before I reveal my technique I'd like to persuade you that speaking well is indeed a very powerful success tool. Because if you have any doubt, you won't put my trick to work, will you?

Think about some of the most powerful people in the world. Oprah Winfrey, Bill Gates, and Warren Buffett, to name a few.

What do these people have in common? Intelligence? Yes, but there are plenty of intelligent people who don't have power and who aren't successful. Our universities are filled with them. No, intelligence is not it.

What these three people share is the ability to speak well and persuasively.

Oprah Winfrey is a master speaker. Her secret to becoming the world's most powerful woman (and there is no doubt that she is - even more powerful than Hillary Clinton, another great speaker) is that she found a way to make millions of people believe she cares about them.

Bill Gates became one of the most successful entrepreneurs in the history of America not by being a computer genius (he isn't) but by knowing how to convince a select group of people that he could deliver a system that could change the world.

And Warren Buffett? His persuasion skills have been a huge part of his success.

"Speaking well is... the number one reason for career advancement," Virginia Avery asserts in The Power of Your Speech. "Every time you meet with a client or make a presentation, your image is affected - for better or worse."

Woodrow Wilson, Avery points out, began his career as a reserved political science professor with a stilted speaking style. When he decided to go into politics, he set about becoming a skillful orator. And when he delivered his inaugural address as the 28th President of the United States, it was said that "not since Lincoln has there been a president so wonderfully gifted in the art of expression."

Lincoln's prowess as a speaker is beautifully illustrated by a story told by Peggy Noonan in On Speaking Well.

"When the famed orator Edward Everett spoke before Lincoln at Gettysburg, he went on for more than two hours and pulled out all the stops with poetry and pleading and stentorian phrases. Then Lincoln got up and offered a masterpiece of compression, two or three minutes on the meaning of war and the meaning of the day... With great grace [Everett] wrote Lincoln, 'I shall be glad if I could flatter myself that I came as near to the central idea of the occasion in two hours as you did in two minutes.'"

Persuasive speaking skills helped most of America's most influential presidents "get their most cherished programs through Congress and leave their stamp on the future," wrote Michael Kazin in The Washington Post. Every modern president "who left office with his popularity intact" - from Theodore and Franklin D. Roosevelt to John F. Kennedy to Ronald Reagan - said Kazin, was a masterful speaker.

"If all my talents and powers were to be taken from me by some inscrutable Providence and I had my choice of keeping but one," Daniel Webster once said, "I would unhesitatingly ask to be allowed to keep the power of speaking, for through it I would quickly recover all the rest."

Although I consider myself a writer first and foremost, my skill at speaking has been responsible for most of my most important accomplishments.

Saying the right thing got me a 25% share in the first information product I created. That stake in the business made me a millionaire in less than two years.

Speaking well landed me additional partnership deals in the years following that first one. As a result, my share of the business grew to include one-third of a group whose yearly revenues exceeded $135 million.

Less than two years after I "retired" at 39, I talked my way into a high-paid gig that has generated a substantial seven-figure income ever since.

Speaking persuasively continues to help me form partnerships and make alliances that are both pleasurable and profitable.

So... have I convinced you that being able to communicate persuasively is a critically important success skill?

Then my next question to you is this: What are you doing about becoming a more persuasive speaker? What steps are you taking right now? Are you reading books on speaking? Are you taking courses? Are you thinking carefully about how you communicate with your colleagues, your clients, and your boss?

How would they rate you as a persuasive speaker? If the answer is anything other than "great," you have work to do!

And don't tell me you "don't have enough time." Stephen Covey poked holes in that argument in The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People.

In the rush to get everything done that we are given to do every day, said Covey, we tend to take care of the urgent tasks first and push off the non-urgent ones. Yet, it is the important-but-not-urgent tasks - like those that help you improve your speaking skills - that will make the greatest long-term difference in your life. So you have to make them a priority. And once you make them a priority, they will get done.

It is impossible to overestimate the value of speaking well. Whether you are negotiating a lease on a car, presenting an idea at a business meeting, having a conversation with a powerful person you've just been introduced to - what you say and how you say it matters.

So let's begin your mastery of speaking with the simple four-part strategy I talked about at the beginning of this essay. As I said, you can put this strategy to work immediately. And you will notice the difference as soon as you start.

Persuasive speaking has four parts: knowing what you want, understanding what the other person wants, understanding the possible objections, and then presenting your case as simply as possible.

Step One: Figure out what you want.

Let's say you've been invited to take part in a business meeting... or perhaps you're gearing up to have an important conversation with a family member. Spend some time beforehand thinking about the topic you will be discussing. Figure out how you can benefit from it. Set a specific, measurable goal for yourself. Then figure out how you can achieve that goal.

This may seem like an unnecessary step. You might be thinking, "I don't need to think about what I want. I am always aware of it."

In fact, most people don't know what they want. They have some general impressions of what being successful means. But they don't analyze those impressions. They don't break them down. They don't understand how to achieve them strategically.

Step Two: Figure out what the other person wants.

Contrary to what some self-improvement gurus will tell you, you won't get what you want in life simply by asking for it.

Everybody is ultimately motivated by self-interest. Achieving your specific goals, therefore, is a matter of figuring out how you can satisfy the desires of others.

If, for example, your goal for that business meeting you've been invited to is to be nominated to head up an upcoming project, plan for it by making a mental list of how your nomination will help each person attending the meeting. Figure out how, in leading the project, you can provide that.

Most important, think about how you can direct the project so that it will achieve growth and profitability for the company. Spend some time formulating the phrases you will use to drive that point home.

By putting the company first, you will enlist the respect and support of just about everyone. You will establish yourself as a natural leader. And then, when you explain how the project will benefit each person individually, you will see how quickly they line up to support you.

Step Three: Take time to consider the objections.

After figuring out how you can achieve your goal by providing benefits to others, make a list of the objections you might encounter.

Good copywriters do this when they write a promotional package. Good public speakers do this before giving a speech. You should do it too before making any informal presentation.

Of course, it's not enough to list potential objections. You must craft concise arguments that will overcome those objections. You must show your listeners that you are sympathetic to their concerns and that you have a plan to deal with them.

Break the objections down into their component parts. Analyze those parts. Discover their weaknesses or find ways to minimize them. Base your thinking on research, if you have time to do it. But also think about your past experience. Remember that your ultimate objective is to find solutions that are good not just for you but for the people you're speaking to.

Step Four: Keep it simple.

After you have taken these first three steps, you will be very excited to present your case. But then you will start coming up with all sorts of extra ideas. All sorts of secondary benefits and arguments that might be useful if you were writing a long paper, but which will only hamper your effectiveness if you include them in your oral presentation.

So before you make your pitch, make a conscious decision NOT to mention these secondary considerations. Just focus on the main idea and the primary benefits. And state them as clearly and compellingly as you can.

Ready, Fire, Aim

Most of us, most of the time, speak impulsively. We are stimulated by some event or remark and utter the first thing that pops into our heads. We don't stop to consider the effect our statement will have on those to whom we are speaking. Neither do we consider how our words will affect us. Yet they surely do.

"Words are all we have," Samuel Beckett said. And this is often true.

You can't force your colleagues to listen to your ideas. You can't force your boss to give you a raise or a promotion. You can't force your spouse to agree with everything you say. But if you follow these four simple steps before you speak, you will be amazed at the persuasive power you will have.

[Ed. Note: This essay is based on a chapter from The Pledge: Your Master Plan for an Abundant Life. You can read the rest of Michael Masterson's latest book here.]

ONE MONTH FUEL PRICES BREAK

2011-03-12T09:26:00.001-08:00

The 2011-2012 Budget was presented in the House of Representatives this morning. It is called Celebrating Growth, Sustaining Recovery and is to come online on April first. Before we get into the full figures, there’s a projected deficit, an increase in recurrent expenditure due to the wage bill and a slight increase in revenue and grants. But a few bright spots: as promised there will be no new taxes; taxes will be removed from kerosene and for good measure, the PM announced that an expected price hike in the price of fuel tonight, will be held-off. The flip side is that it is only a one time deal and prices will continue to go up thereafter.

Dean Barrow

“For effective this very day, we will signed into a law a statutory instrument that will zero rate the GST on gasoline, illuminating kerosene and diesel. In its place, we will increase the import duty on gasoline and diesel at a fixed specific rate amount. This amount will not be equivalent to what the GST take is currently—at over one hundred U.S. dollars per barrel, but it will be equivalent to what the GST take was when the world oil prices were in the U.S. eighty-five dollar per barrel range. In effect Mister Speaker, the Government will no longer gain, however slightly, from any rise in international oil prices. To repeat, we are in fact, rolling back the effective tax a little by import duty substitution at a rate equivalent to the GST position that existed in the idle of last year as oppose to the higher GST position that obtains now. But we go further, Mister Speaker, for we will not applied the makeup import duty to illuminating kerosene. This is mainly used by the poor and is currently import duty free. So we will now remove the GST from kerosene and replace it with nothing. There is a shipment of fuel due today and the pump prices were to increase by about a dollar twenty Belize per gallon for gasoline and a dollar Belize for kerosene and diesel. What government will do is, as I indicated, remove the GST, but for this shipment alone, we will not impose the substitute import duty. We will therefore make a huge revenue sacrifice. But I must caution, Mister Speaker, that this is a one time only gesture. When the next shipment after this arrives, around the end of March, it will have to be subject to the new import duty in lieu of GST. Because of what we’re doing and not imposing the GST or the substitute import duty, instead what will happen with the shipment coming in tonight, the price will go down to ten-thirty-nine for premium, ten-thirteen for regular, eight-thirty-six for kerosene and nine-sixty-one for diesel.”

John Briceño, Leader of the Opposition

John Briceño

“What he did skillfully, politically, is that he talked about not increasing the cost of fuel that would have gone up by about a dollar and twenty cents; but for one month. Obviously he is trying to remove that whole anger form the Belizean people with his budget—trying to find a way to ease that just for two weeks because as we all know shipments come in every two weeks. And he has already admitted that the price of fuel is going to go up in the next shipment that is going to come in.”

Barrow says that the government’s loss on the shipment of fuel is one million dollars.

HAPPY INTERNATIONAL WOMEN´S DAY

2011-03-08T15:02:00.000-08:00

International Women's Day has been observed since in the early 1900's, a time of great expansion and turbulence in the industrialized world that saw booming population growth and the rise of radical ideologies.
1908
Great unrest and critical debate was occurring amongst women. Women's oppression and inequality was spurring women to become more vocal and active in campaigning for change. Then in 1908, 15,000 women marched through New York City demanding shorter hours, better pay and voting rights.
1909
In accordance with a declaration by the Socialist Party of America, the first National Woman's Day (NWD) was observed across the United States on 28 February. Women continued to celebrate NWD on the last Sunday of February until 1913.
1910
n 1910 a second International Conference of Working Women was held in Copenhagen. A woman named a Clara Zetkin (Leader of the 'Women's Office' for the Social Democratic Party in Germany) tabled the idea of an International Women's Day. She proposed that every year in every country there should be a celebration on the same day - a Women's Day - to press for their demands. The conference of over 100 women from 17 countries, representing unions, socialist parties, working women's clubs, and including the first three women elected to the Finnish parliament, greeted Zetkin's suggestion with unanimous approval and thus International Women's Day was the result.
1911
Following the decision agreed at Copenhagen in 1911, International Women's Day (IWD) was honoured the first time in Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland on 19 March. More than one million women and men attended IWD rallies campaigning for women's rights to work, vote, be trained, to hold public office and end discrimination. However less than a week later on 25 March, the tragic 'Triangle Fire' in New York City took the lives of more than 140 working women, most of them Italian and Jewish immigrants. This disastrous event drew significant attention to working conditions and labour legislation in the United States that became a focus of subsequent International Women's Day events. 1911 also saw women's 'Bread and Roses' campaign.

1913-1914
On the eve of World War I campaigning for peace, Russian women observed their first International Women's Day on the last Sunday in February 1913. In 1913 following discussions, International Women's Day was transferred to 8 March and this day has remained the global date for International Wommen's Day ever since. In 1914 further women across Europe held rallies to campaign against the war and to express women's solidarity.
1917
On the last Sunday of February, Russian women began a strike for "bread and peace" in response to the death over 2 million Russian soldiers in war. Opposed by political leaders the women continued to strike until four days later the Czar was forced to abdicate and the provisional Government granted women the right to vote. The date the women's strike commenced was Sunday 23 February on the Julian calendar then in use in Russia. This day on the Gregorian calendar in use elsewhere was 8 March.
1918 - 1999
Since its birth in the socialist movement, International Women's Day has grown to become a global day of recognition and celebration across developed and developing countries alike. For decades, IWD has grown from strength to strength annually. For many years the United Nations has held an annual IWD conference to coordinate international efforts for women's rights and participation in social, political and economic processes. 1975 was designated as 'International Women's Year' by the United Nations. Women's organisations and governments around the world have also observed IWD annually on 8 March by holding large-scale events that honour women's advancement and while diligently reminding of the continued vigilance and action required to ensure that women's equality is gained and maintained in all aspects of life.
2000 and beyond
IWD is now an official holiday in Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, China (for women only), Cuba, Georgia, Guinea-Bissau, Eritrea, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Madagascar (for women only), Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro, Nepal (for women only), Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Vietnam and Zambia. The tradition sees men honouring their mothers, wives, girlfriends, colleagues, etc with flowers and small gifts. In some countries IWD has the equivalent status of Mother's Day where children give small presents to their mothers and grandmothers.
The new millennium has witnessed a significant change and attitudinal shift in both women's and society's thoughts about women's equality and emancipation. Many from a younger generation feel that 'all the battles have been won for women' while many feminists from the 1970's know only too well the longevity and ingrained complexity of patriarchy. With more women in the boardroom, greater equality in legislative rights, and an increased critical mass of women's visibility as impressive role models in every aspect of life, one could think that women have gained true equality. The unfortunate fact is that women are still not paid equally to that of their male counterparts, women still are not present in equal numbers in business or politics, and globally women's education, health and the violence against them is worse than that of men.
However, great improvements have been made. We do have female astronauts and prime ministers, school girls are welcomed into university, women can work and have a family, women have real choices. And so the tone and nature of IWD has, for the past few years, moved from being a reminder about the negatives to a celebration of the positives.
Annually on 8 March, thousands of events are held throughout the world to inspire women and celebrate achievements. A global web of rich and diverse local activity connects women from all around the world ranging from political rallies, business conferences, government activities and networking events through to local women's craft markets, theatric performances, fashion parades and more.
Many global corporations have also started to more actively support IWD by running their own internal events and through supporting external ones. For example, on 8 March search engine and media giant Google some years even changes its logo on its global search pages. Year on year IWD is certainly increasing in status. The United States even designates the whole month of March as 'Women's History Month'.
So make a difference, think globally and act locally !! Make everyday International Women's Day. Do your bit to ensure that the future for girls is bright, equal, safe and rewarding.

HAVE YOU EVER WONDERED?

2011-02-26T09:41:00.000-08:00

Why do we have to study? Why do we need good grades? Why are assignments necessary? Why must we have quiz and tests?

Life is the biggest school there is and sooner or later YOU will be faced to deal with it alone with a family of your own and a life in which you decide what is good or bad, and right or wrong. That is the day that the schooling you receive in classrooms and in your early everyday lives prepares you for. It is a step on that great path to becoming an indivdual who is independent and free. Free to make choices and free to make mistakes. Free to mess up and free to succeed. SO UNTIL THAT DAY ARRIVES YOU HAVE TO STUDY, YOU HAVE TO AIM FOR GOOD GRADES, YOU HAVE TO DO ASSIGNMENTS AND QUIZZES AND TESTS. IT IS THE PREPARATION FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIVES AND YOU CAN DO IT!

SO, JUST SAY, I CAN!

YO PUEDO!

IT IS ALL POSSIBLE AND IT IS ALL GOING TO HAPPEN.

HAVE A GREAT DAY!

VOCABULARY FOR JUNE 26, 2010

2010-06-26T23:14:00.000-07:00

Today's Word "overweening"
overweening \oh-vur-WEE-ning\ (adjective) - 1 : Overbearing; arrogant; presumptuous. 2 : Excessive; immoderate; exaggerated. "Candace's overweening affections were one of the many traits that Alan found so difficult to bear."

Overweening is from Middle English overwening, present participle of overwenen, "to be arrogant," from over + wenen "to ween," from Old English wenan.

ONCE AGAIN YOU HAVE PROVEN THE THEORY THAT "YOU CAN"

2010-06-16T03:31:00.001-07:00

HATS OFF TO THE GRADUATES OF 2010. I WISH YOU ALL THE BEST IN YOUR FUTURE ENDEAVOURS.

REMEMBER:

"LEARNING CONTINUES EVEN AFTER YOU CLOSE THE TEXT BOOKS" (Brenda A. Ysaguirre)

WHAT FACEBOOK HAS BEEN ABLE TO DO IS AMAZING

2010-04-03T01:53:00.000-07:00

Una comunidad en la Web
Facebook revolucionó las relaciones sociales en Internet, y en la vida real. Es la red social más popular del mundo.Hoy alcanza los 400 millones de usuarios, luego de haber crecido un 130% durante el último año. Y se tradujo en 70 idiomas. La creó el neoyorkino Mark Zuckerberg desde su habitación en Harvard hace seis años. Su intención fue armar una comunidad en la Web en donde, además de compartir fotos y videos, se generen reencuentros y búsquedas.Y lo logró. Hace un año, Clarín contó algunas historias de reencuentro gracias a Facebook: Giglio Pascal volvió a ver a su hijo después de 12 años, los hermanos Jonatan y Ana María se conocieron en la Plaza San Miguel y viejos compañeros de escuela volvieron a juntarse.

VOCABULARY FOR MAR 3, 2010

2010-03-03T19:57:00.000-08:00

Today's Word "trencherman"
trencherman \TREN-chuhr-muhn\ (noun) - A hearty eater. "You had musty victual, and he had holp to eat it. He is a very valiant trencherman; he hath an excellent stomach." -- William Shakepeare, 'Much Ado About Nothing' Trencherman is from trencher, "a wooden board or platter on which food is served or carved" (from Medieval French trencheoir, from Old French trenchier, "to cut," from Latin truncare, "to lop off, to shorten by cutting") + man. It is related to trench, "a hole cut into the ground."

The Language Perfectionist: Whose Rules?

2010-01-17T20:42:00.000-08:00

By Don Hauptman
In matters of grammar and usage, it's not always easy to know what's correct.
In France, a government-run Academy serves as the official authority. Here in America, no single authority has been appointed to give us definitive answers. We must consider various sources, sometimes conflicting, and make our own decisions.
Language authorities generally fall into one of two schools. The prescriptivists offer explicit guidance. The descriptivists simply record how language is used, without passing judgment.
The second group might be called permissivists. At least some of its members apparently believe that no rules should exist. If enough people use a word incorrectly, it somehow comes to be "right." Thus, for example, it's okay for disinterested to mean uninterested, instead of -- or in addition to -- its primary meaning of impartial. Many dictionaries have capitulated on this point. But by this reasoning, ain't is acceptable. After all, so many people use it!
If following a rule creates an awkward result, you might need to break it. But another choice often exists. For example, a venerable rule forbids beginning a sentence with however. The alternative: It's usually possible to respect the rule by substituting but or another word or phrase. Or by relocating however within the sentence.
In general, I advise observing traditional standards, unless a compelling reason exists to disregard them. Here's why:
1. Customs and conventions aren't irrelevant. They're part of civilized society. I call this "The Necktie Principle." No good reasons exist to wear ties, and one could cite several arguments against them. But a man in the corporate world who abandoned ties would likely come to regret that decision. So it is with language. Even the permissivists don't spell physician with an F, even though it would be more "logical."
2. We're judged by how we use language. In your career and social life, you're viewed as educated or uneducated, literate or illiterate, on the basis of how well you speak and write. Like it or not, such first impressions help determine your status, advancement, and romantic success.
3. It doesn't pay to be perceived as wrong, even if you can prove that you're "right." If you flout a rule, you may have a case. But it's impractical to justify your position in conversation or in most written work. For instance, if you use enormity to mean large and your listener advocates its traditional meaning of "a great evil," it would be a bit awkward to haul out a dictionary containing the permissive definition.
As you might guess, I incline toward the prescriptivist camp. But I recognize that language changes, and that the rules may be bent when necessary. As with many things in life, common sense should prevail.
[Ed Note: For more than three decades, Don Hauptman was an award-winning independent direct-response copywriter and creative consultant. He is author of The Versatile Freelancer, an e-book published by AWAI that shows writers and other creative professionals how to diversify their careers into speaking, consulting, training, and critiquing.]

IT´S ALL IN ONIONS... THEY CAN SAVE YOUR LIFE!!!

2010-01-10T13:16:00.000-08:00

A friend of mine told me a story about how when he was a kid he was in the hospital & near dying. His Italian grandmother came to the hospital & told a family member to go buy her a large onion & a new pair of white cotton socks. She sliced the onion open then put a slice on the bottom of each of his feet & put the white cotton socks on him. In the morning when he awoke they removed the socks. The slices of onion were black and his fever was gone. The following story that someone sent to me might have some truth in it & we are going to try this this winter. In 1919 when the flu killed 40 million people there was this Doctor that visited the many farmers to see if he could help them combat the flu. Many of the farmers and their family had contracted it and many died. The doctor came upon this one farmer and to his surprise, everyone was very healthy. When the doctor asked what the farmer was doing that was different the wife replied that she had placed an unpeeled onion in a dish in the rooms of the home, (probably only two roomsback then). The doctor couldn't believe it and asked if he could have one of the onions and place it under the microscope. She gave him one and when he did this, he did find the flu virus in the onion. It obviously absorbed the bacteria therefore, keeping the family healthy. Now, I heard this story from my hairdresser in AZ. She said that several years ago many of her employees were coming down with the flu and so were many of her customers. The next year she placed several bowls with onions around in her shop. To her surprise, none of her staff got sick. It must work.. (And no, she is not in the onion business.) The moral of the story is, buy some onions and place them in bowls around your home. If you work at a desk, place one or two in your office or under your desk or even on top somewhere. Try it and see what happens. We did it last year and we never got the flu. If this helps you and your loved ones from getting sick, all the better. If you do get the flu, it just might be a mild case.. , what have you to lose? Just a few bucks on onions!!!!!!Now there is a P. S. to this for I sent it to a friend in Oregon who regularly contributes material to me on health issues. She replied with thismost interesting experience about onions:Weldon,thanks for the reminder. I don't know about the farmers story...but, I do know that I contacted pneumonia andneedless to say I was very ill...I came across an article that said to cut both ends off an onion put oneend on a fork and then place the forked end into an empty jar...placing the jar next to the sick patient at night.It said the onion would be black in the morning from the germs...sure enough it happened just like that...the onion was amess and I began to feel better.Another thing I read in the article was that onions and garlic placed around the room saved many from the black plague years ago.They have powerful antibacterial, antiseptic properties.

I WAITED FOR YOU

2010-01-04T08:55:00.000-08:00

I waited for you that night
And you did not come.
I waited for your call,
And you did not phone.
I waited for your car to drive up
And it never appeared.
I wanted to call you around eleven pm,
I want to take you your usual just around then.
But you had an appointment so I thought you were there,
And so I sat waiting for you to appear.
At two o´clock I decided to wait no more.
So, Oscar and I decided to close the door.

I did not fall asleep for another hour or two.
I just laid in bed thinking about me and you.
The next day I awoke with a start at seven,
I was going to call you around then.
But I figured you´d be asleep so it would make no sense,
So I closed my eyes as I laid there surrounded by the smell of incense.
At 9am I sent you a text to remind you to call,
I did not know you were not there at all.
We went out and it was not until after three,
That I expressed what your absence was doing to me.
Because we had such a rule in our home,
I waited for your call feeling somewhat alone.

A call came at 5 but it was not from you,
Suddenly my world changed and I didn´t know what to do.
I went looking for you and no one could say,
I went everywhere searching for you on that day.
Finally at our home someone said those words I still hear,
Then I realized what had happened and I felt the tear.
Days turned into weeks and weeks now into months,
As we seek justice and as the evidence mounts.

I waited for you to arrive that day,
I waited for your call for you to say,
“Hola, negrita, mi amor, como estas?
Ya tengo hambre, en que piensas?”
And I would say, “Adonde sea, cielo, no importa, mi amor,”
Porque ya sabía que sea como sea estaría contigo,
Y juntos estaríamos en nuestro mundo de YO PUEDO.

So I waited for you and you never came,
Now I am sitting here in so much pain.
You are still with me, I know that to be,
Because you were always so much a part of me.
But I waited for you that silent night,
When someone took you away and turned off my light.

I waited for you and I wait for you now,
To tell me what happened, to tell me just how.
Can I go on living without you by my side?
Will my tears forever come with the tide?
Y la pregunta sigue siento lo mismo, mi amor…
La pregunta que te hice muchas veces sin este dolor,
-¿Sabes que, mi cielo?-
Y tu, riéndote me decías, -¿Que, negrita?-
-Te amo un chingo,- yo te decía.
Y nos abrazábamos, riendo, y besando.
And so I wait…

Brenda A. Ysaguirre
January 4, 2010
Copyright 2010 Brenda A. Ysaguirre

JOY TO THE WORLD

2009-12-25T01:06:00.000-08:00

At this time of the year, with pain in my heart and tears in my eyes at the loss of my best friend and soul companion, I reach out across the miles to greet all my blog readers. I promise to return in the new year with a vigor and the passion I once had. Now I wish to thank you for your support. MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!! GOD BLESS AND KEEP YOU ALL WELL.

IN MEMORY OF THE GREATEST MAN IN MY LIFE

2009-10-20T23:41:00.000-07:00

Papi, te quiero mucho. Solo yo y tu sabemos el amor que tuvimos uno por el otro. Descanse en paz, cielo. Te amo hoy mas que ayer, y menos que mañana.
YO PUEDO!!!! I CAN!!!!!
GONE TOO SOON..... NOVEMBER 14, 1955 - OCTOBER 18, 2009

VOCABULARY FOR OCT 18, 2009

2009-10-18T10:06:00.000-07:00

Today's Word "collegial"
collegial \kuh-LEE-jee-uhl; -juhl\ (adjective) - 1 : Characterized by or having authority or responsibility shared equally by each of a group of colleagues. 2 : Characterized by equal sharing of authority especially by Roman Catholic bishops. 3 : Of or relating to a college or university; collegiate. 4 : Characterized by camaraderie among colleagues. "First he comes by here looking for you at lunchtime yesterday -- for a collegial chat, he told me -- and later he swings by to drop off Fawn." -- Stephen F. Wilcox, 'The Nimby Factor' Collegial comes from Medieval Latin collegialis, "of or relating to colleagues," from Latin collegium, "an association," from collega, "a colleague, one chosen with [col- for con-, 'with'] another, a partner in office," from con- + legare, "to send or choose as deputy," from lex, legis, "law."

HORSE SEX, HAND GESTURES, EAR BUGS, SPITBALLS AND THE SPEEDWELL

2009-10-17T10:00:00.000-07:00

How can you tell a horse's sex?
You can tell the sex of a horse by its teeth. Most males have 40, females have 36.

What hand gesture faux pas did Pres. Bush Sr. make in Australia?
After telling the press he was an expert in hand gestures, President George Bush gave the "V-for-Victory" sign as he drove in his armored limousine past demonstrators in Canberra, Australia's capital in January 1992. In Australia, holding up two fingers to form a "V" has the same vulgar meaning as the middle-finger gesture in the United States. The Aussie demonstrators were enraged, and they signaled in the same manner back at the U.S. President. Pres. Bush later apologized for his faux pas.

Will any bug pose a danger to your ear?
The Japanese beetle, found in the eastern United States and Canada, is the only bug in these countries to be concerned about if lodged in the ear, for it can chew through the eardrum in a matter of minutes. Other bugs can be removed without the same urgency.

When was the last spitball thrown?
Baseball's last legal spitball was thrown by Hall of Famer Burleigh Grimes for the New York Yankees in 1934. Although the pitch had been outlawed 14 years earlier, those already throwing it were permitted to continue.

What was the Mayflower's companion named?
The name of the Pilgrim's second ship that was to accompany the Mayflower to the New World was the Speedwell. It had to turn back because it wasn't seaworthy.

VOCABULARY FOR OCT 16, 2009

2009-10-16T09:58:00.000-07:00

Today's Word "Tintinnabulation"
tintinnabulation \tin-tehn-ab-yu-LEY-shehn\ (noun) - The ringing or jingling sound of bells. "The tintinnabulous collectors for the Salvation Army have replaced tintinnabulating sleigh harness and the growing popularity of tintinnabulist concerts produces even more of this heart-lifting sound." Latin tintinnabulum "bell," from tintinnare "to ring, jingle" a reduplication of tinnire "ring, jingle." This remarkable word is both onomatopoetic (resembling the sound it refers to) and reduplicative (the syllable "tin-" is repeated).

ANOTHER VIDEO BY SELVIN - DEM A TALKING

2009-10-15T09:44:00.000-07:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2mYlGtNqmw

This is talent!! You go Selvin!!!

SELVIN - Untouchable Riddim "Metrayeta"

2009-10-14T09:36:00.000-07:00

here is a link to Selvin Castellanos´ video. Selvin is a graduate of CCC and I had the pleasure of teaching this talented young man. Note, he has not forgotten where he comes from. He waves the Belizean flag.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M0yyb1ZbBNg

VOCABULARY FOR OCT 13, 2009

2009-10-13T09:34:00.000-07:00

Today's Word "jawboning"
jawboning \JAW-boh-ning\ (noun) - The use of public appeals (as by a president) to influence the actions especially of business and labor leaders; broadly : the use of spoken persuasion "The governor was reluctant to intervene directly in the strike, so he resorted to jawboning, urging both sides to return to the bargaining table with warnings and rhetoric." In the late 1800s, the noun "jawbone" meant "credit" ("his money's gone, so he lives on jawbone"). By the mid-1950s, people were writing about "jawbone control" (in reference to regulations intended to make people cautious), and by 1966 the verb "to jawbone" (meaning "to talk about to gain some end") was appearing regularly in the media. The noun "jawboning" made its print debut in 1969. All of these uses were likely influenced by the verb "jaw," which has long been used with the meanings "to talk" or "to scold."

VOCABULARY FOR OCT 12, 2009

2009-10-12T09:32:00.000-07:00

Today's Word "robustious"
robustious \roh-BUHS-chuhs\ (adjective) - 1 : Boisterous; vigorous. 2 : Coarse; rough; crude. "O, it offends me t the soul to hear a robustious periwig-pated fellow tear a passion to tatters, to very rags, to split the ears of the groundlings, who for the most part are capable of nothing but inexplicable dumb shows and noise." -- William Shakespeare, 'Hamlet' Robustious derives from Latin robustus, "oaken, hence strong, powerful, firm," from robur, "oak."

Fast-food ban unlikely to cut obesity

2009-10-11T09:27:00.000-07:00

SANTA MONICA, Calif. (UPI) -- An ordinance to restrict fast-food chain restaurants in South Los Angeles is unlikely to cut obesity, officials of a non-profit research organization said. Researchers at Rand Health, part of the Rand Corp., found that the South Los Angeles region has no more fast-food chain establishments on a per capita basis than other parts of the city, but rather many more small food stores and other food outlets. The report, published online by the journal Health Affairs, said these small food stores and outlets are more likely to be the source of high-calorie snacks and soda consumed substantially more often by residents of South Los Angeles as compared to other parts of the city. "The Los Angeles ordinance may have been an important first by being concerned with health outcomes, but it is not the most promising approach to lowering the high rate of obesity in South Los Angeles," lead author Roland Sturm, a senior economist at Rand, a nonprofit research organization, said in a statement. "It does not address the main differences we see in the food environment between Los Angeles neighborhoods nor in the diet of residents."
Copyright 2009 by United Press International

IF YOU THINK ABOUT THIS, OUR FAST FOODS HERE IN BELIZE FOCUS ON CHINESE SELLING FRIED CHICKEN, OR THE LATINOS RESTAURANTS THAT SELL US TACOS, EMPANADES, GARNACHES, TOSTADOS, SALBUTES. ALL THESE FOODS ARE COOKED IN A LOT OF OIL. AND IF THE RESTAURANT IS BUYING CHEAP COOKING OIL, WHICH I THINK IS OBVIOUS, THEN WE ARE ALL HEADING FOR OBESITY. WATCH WHAT YOU ARE EATING. IT MAY BE SAVER TO EAT AT HOME. IT IS CERTAINLY CHEAPER.
Ms B

MAN... the snake in human skin

2009-10-05T13:30:00.000-07:00

IF WE LOOK CAREFULLY AT MAN, WE CAN REALIZE THAT HE IS THE MOST CRUEL BEAST ON THE PLANET WE CALL HOME. (Brenda A. Ysaguirre)

IN DENAMRK THEY ARE KILLING INNOCENT DOLPHINS FOR FUN!!! PLEASE VISIT MY OTHER BLOG http://brenda-ilovecccace.blogspot.com/

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ZENI

2009-10-01T01:37:00.000-07:00

HOPE YOUR DAY IS FILLED WITH ALL THAT YOU WANT IT TO HAVE. OF COURSE, THE BEST GIFT ISW BEING WITH YOUR WONDERFUL CHILDREN AND LOVE!!! SO, ONCE AGAIN, ZENI, HAVE A HAPPY BIRTHDAY. MAY GOD BLESS YOU NOW AND ALWAYS!!!
B

Descubren 163 nuevas especies de plantas y animales en Asia

2009-09-30T09:32:00.000-07:00

Expertos descubrieron 163 nuevas especies, incluida una rana con colmillos, en el área que cubre el río Mekong a su paso por el sudeste de Asia, informó en un comunicado, el Fondo Mundial para la Naturaleza (WWF, por sus siglas en inglés).

La "Limnonecter megastomias", una rana con colmillos, es una de las especies descubiertas por los científicos, la cual se alimenta de pájaros e insectos y utiliza sus dos pequeños colmillos como armas durante los combates contra otros machos durante la época de apareamiento.

"Estas especies han estado ocultas durante milenios, pero ahora las estamos sacando a la luz y, evidentemente, todavía hay muchas más por descubrir" , indicó el director del Programa "Gran Mekong" de WWF, Stuart Chapman.

Alertó que si bien los efectos del cambio climático, "como sequías e inundaciones", amenazan seriamente la supervivencia de muchas especies "algunas podrán adaptarse al nuevo clima, pero otras no, lo que puede dar lugar a un proceso masivo de extinción, ya que el calentamiento global reducirá el escaso hábitat de estos animales", explicó

CARNIVAL 2009 IN BELIZE

2009-09-27T17:13:00.000-07:00

PAST DIRECTOR NOW LADY IN WHITE WITH THE HEART OF A TEMAZCALIST

2009-09-26T14:45:00.000-07:00

As I move on into the new dawn of my life, I am filled with happiness that I continue to do good for the people around me. My clients leave happy and many return for treatment at my spa in Corozal and Chetumal. Needless to say we may not always choose our destiny but if we can enjoy where it leads us then life is worth living. I AM HAVING A GREAT TIME DOING WHAT I ENJOY DOING AND BEING MY OWN BOSS!!! THAT is the best part of this whole new adventure set in time. To those who helped to lead me there, much thanks. You can never keep a GREAT WOMAN DOWN, and I dear "friends" I am ONE OF THE GREATEST WOMEN YOU WILL EVER KNOW!!!!

MORE CARNIVAL PICTURES FROM COROZAL TOWN, BELIZE

2009-09-25T02:40:00.000-07:00

COROZAL DANCERS!!

SAN NARCISO DRUM CORP

THE BIKERS!!!

CHICO´S TORTILLA FACTORY FLOAT

CARNIVAL PAST IN COROZAL TOWN, BELIZE 2009

2009-09-24T02:35:00.000-07:00

SPECIAL THANKS TO NATALI KEME FOR THE PHOTOS OF THIS YEAR´S CARNIVAL IN COROZAL!!!! I WASN´T IN TOWN BUT THANKS TO HER I CAN STILL BLOG THE EVENT.

FACTS WE CAN ALL LEARN FROM

2009-09-23T01:17:00.000-07:00

How dangerous are piranha?
A single piranha, with its razor-sharp teeth, is still dangerous enough when out of water to rip off the flesh, or a finger or toe, from an unwary fisherman.

Which human hair grows fastest?
Beards are the fastest growing hairs on the human body. If the average man never trimmed his beard, it would grow to nearly 30 feet long in his lifetime.

Who was first to high five?
According to one source, the Los Angeles Dodgers coined the term "high five." Outfielder Glenn Burke is credited with originating it in 1977.

Which language has the longest alphabet?
The longest alphabet is Cambodian. It has 74 letters compared with the 26 in English.

Are Australian barflies fond of horses?
In the state of Queensland, Australia, it is still constitutional law that all pubs (hotel/bar) must have a railing outside for patrons to tie up their horse.

Corozal Carnival of the Past

2009-09-22T07:11:00.000-07:00

BELIZE AT 28

2009-09-21T01:20:00.000-07:00

Happy Independence to all Belieans at home and abroad. Today Belize is 28 years old. To get to this day we, as a nation, have had to do many things and have had to endure many more. BUT WE ARE A STRONG PEOPLE. OUR DESTINY IS SURE. WE ARE THE MAKERS AND THE DESIGNERS OF BELIZE. As we move forward to yet another year in the life of this young nation, let us look back at the past, at the mistakes we have made. Hopefully we can learn from them. Hopefully we can BUILD A NEW BELIZE. Hopefully we can recover that which we seek... economic stability, happiness and peace. ( These are just a few because each and every person may have more things which they seek todaqy in Belize). Let us accept that we can MOVE with the flow. Let us go out and WORK for a better life for ourselves, our children and grandchildren. Let us not wait for tomorrow, for tomorrow, my friends NEVER COME!!!

REMEMBER:
The ROAD we seek is there IF WE WANT TO FIND IT. (Brenda A. Ysaguirre)

Once again, HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY. LONG LIVE BELIZE. HIP HIP HURRAY!!!
Love always, Ms B

THE DAY BEFORE THE DAY!!!

2009-09-20T00:45:00.000-07:00

It is now 1:45 am on a really nice and cool Sunday morning. It is the day before INDEPENDENCE DAY IN BELIZE!!!!

AND WE GONNA PARTY!!!

Tomorrow is Carnaval in Corozal Town. I think I will have to try and stay back and take some much needed pictures. Hope the weather will be great. It rained yesterday in Chetumal, big time!!!

So, happy Carnaval Day, Corozal!!!

VOCABULARY FOR Sept 19, 2009

2009-09-19T00:43:00.000-07:00

Today's Word "nostrum"
nostrum \NOS-truhm\ (noun) - 1 : A medicine of secret composition and unproven or dubious effectiveness; a quack medicine. 2 : A usually questionable remedy or scheme; a cure-all. "He's carrying on his father's trade, for what he has just dispensed to us is very like a nostrum." -- Honoré de Balzac, 'Lost Illusions' Nostrum comes from Latin nostrum (remedium), "our (remedy)," from nos, "we."

A MESSAGE TO STUDENTS AS THE NEW SCHOOL YEAR GETS UNDERWAY

2009-09-17T05:53:00.000-07:00

Most of you have now been back at school for two weeks and by now are settling in to the new school year, new teachers, new subjects and new friends. ALL NEW!!! Wow!! What an exceptional year it can turn out to be. Yes, I said IT CAN TURN OUT TO BE. Why did Ms. B say that you may be wondering. Well, as time and space has shown us over the years people are prone to doing things and saying things that can affect their lives even though they are not sure at the moment it occurs why it did. What is my point then? What am I writing about today? TODAY IS SPECIAL. TODAY IT THE DAY YOU WILL SET NEW GOALS. TODAY IS THE DAY YOU WILL LISTEN TO YOUR TEACHERS. TODAY IS THE BEGINNING OF THE REST OF YOUR LIFE. TODAY YOU WILL MAKE THE CHOICE OR CHOICES THAT WILL AFFECT YOU FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE. Now that is a big step. That is the big FOOT FORWARD!!! So, are you ready to make that POSITIVE step in the RIGHT DIRECTION. THINK: EDUCATION IS THE KEY THAT WILL OPEN EVERY DOOR FOR ME!!!
WELCOME TO THE 2008 – 2009 SCHOOL YEAR!!! WELCOME TO LEARNING. WELCOME TO ALL STUDENTS AND TEACHERS OF THIS BEAUTIFUL WORLD. TO THOSE OF YOU WHOM I HAVE TAUGHT, I WISH YOU WELL THIS YEAR. TO THOSE OF YOU I KNOW BUT DID NOT HAVE THE PLAESURE OF TEACHING I WISH YOU THE SAME: HAVE A GREAT TIME IN SCHOOL. TO THOSE OF YOU I DO NOT KNOW BUT WHO SEEK KNOWLEDGE: GO FOR IT OPEN MINDED AND OPEN HEARTED. HAVE A WONDERFUL TIME INSIDE AND OUTSIDE THE CLASSROOMS.

Man´s desire for success must not come at the price of failure but at the glory of knowledge!!! (Brenda A. Ysaguirre)

VOCABULARY FOR AUG 31, 2009

2009-08-31T06:54:00.000-07:00

Today's Word "reticent"
reticent \RET-ih-suhnt\ (adjective) - 1 : Inclined to keep silent; reserved; uncommunicative. 2 : Restrained or reserved in style. 3 : Reluctant; unwilling. "But poor Harry little knew the difficulty of reticence when the heart is full. He had intended to be very reticent when he came up to London..." -- Anthony Trollope, 'Mr. Scarborough's Family' Reticent comes from the present participle of Latin reticere, "to keep silent," from re- + tacere, "to be silent."

GRAND PREHISPANIC COCOON, COROZAL SPA PROMOTION

2009-08-30T07:01:00.000-07:00

ATTENTION ALL TEACHERS AND STUDENTS OF CCC AND CJC

BRENDA´S RECREATIONAL CLUB OUR BRANCH OF PREHISPANICO IS PLEASE TO OFFER ALL STUDENTS AND TEACHERS OF CCC AND CJC A SPECIAL DISCOUNT ON MASSAGES FROM TODAY UNTIL THE END OF SEPTEMBER, 2009. EVERYDAY AND ANYTIME!!! YOU CAN GET $10.00 OFF OUR MASSAGES. THIS IS A PROMOTION YOU CANNOT AFFORD TO MISS!!!

CALL TODAY TO MAKE YOUR APPOINTMENT. WE ARE OPENED FROM 8AM TO 6PM MONDAYS TO WEDNESDAYS AND FRIDAYS TO SUNDAYS!!
OUR TELEPHONE NUMBERS ARE 422 0259 AND 607 8315

GET YOUR MASSAGE DONE BY NONE OTHER THAN THE CARING, LOVING MS B!!!!!

HOMER, THE POET

2009-08-29T06:56:00.000-07:00

(Dates of birth and death unknown)
Very little is known about Homer, save for the fact that he was blind and is believed to have been born in what is now western Turkey. His name is Greek for "hostage," which may mean he was descended from prisoners of war. He is best known for his epic poems "The Iliad" and "The Odyssey," which may have been told on the spur of the moment from fragments of pre-existing stories. He is believed to have had many students and disciples who, while very few are known by name, became poets in their own rights after his death.

GRAND SEPTEMBER PROMOTION FROM MS B AND PREHISPANIC COCOON, COROZAL

2009-08-28T05:01:00.000-07:00

ATTENTION ALL TEACHERS AND STUDENTS OF CCC AND CJC

CALL TODAY TO MAKE YOUR APPOINTMENT. WE ARE OPENED FROM 8AM TO 6PM MONDAYS TO WEDNESDAYS AND FRIDAYS TO SUNDAYS!!
OUR TELEPHONE NUMBERS ARE 422 0259 AND 607 8315

GET YOUR MASSAGE DONE BY NONE OTHER THAN THE CARING, LOVING MS B!!!!!

VOCABULARY FOR AUG 27, 2009

2009-08-27T06:52:00.000-07:00

Today's Word "proclivity"
proclivity \pro-KLIV-uh-tee\ (noun) - A natural inclination; predisposition. "Nothing has emerged, except a marked proclivity for the gibbet; for he took great delight in stringing up renegade Frenchmen whom he surprised in the ranks of the English or caught in towns which showed signs of disloyalty to the King." Proclivity comes from Latin proclivitas, from proclivis, "inclined," from pro-, "forward" + clivus, "a slope."

VOCABULARY FOR AUG 26, 2009

2009-08-26T06:49:00.000-07:00

Today's Word "titivate"
titivate \TIT-uh-vayt\ (transitive and intransitive verb) - To smarten up; to spruce up. "I decided tonight it was time to put away all the black mourning clothes, cut my hair, and titivate myself a bit, as Blackie so aptly calls it." -- Barbara Taylor Bradford, 'Emma's Secret' Titivate is perhaps from tidy + the quasi-Latin ending -vate. When the word originally came into the language, it was written tidivate or tiddivate. The noun form is titivation.

VOCABULARY FOR AUG 25, 2009

2009-08-25T18:48:00.000-07:00

Today's Word "lexicography"
lexicography \lek-suh-KAH-gruh-fee\ (noun) - 1 : The writing or compiling of dictionaries; the editing or making of dictionaries. 2 : The principles and practices applied to writing dictionaries. "I am of course stopping short still of the needs of practical lexicography in one conspicuous respect : I am attending only to the cognitive side..." -- W.V. Quine, 'Theories and Things' Lexicography is derived from the Greek lexicon (biblion), a word- or phrase-book (from lexis, a phrase, a word) + graphein, to write. A lexicographer (thought to be formed on the pattern of geographer) is a compiler or writer of a dictionary -- as defined by Samuel Johnson in his own Dictionary of the English Language, "a writer of dictionaries, a harmless drudge."

GRAND PREHISPANIC, COROZAL SPA PROMOTION

2009-08-18T02:27:00.000-07:00

ATTENTION ALL TEACHERS AND STUDENTS OF CCC AND CJC

CALL TODAY TO MAKE YOUR APPOINTMENT. WE ARE OPENED FROM 8AM TO 8PM MONDAYS TO WEDNESDAYS AND FRIDAYS TO SUNDAYS!!

OUR TELEPHONE NUMBERS ARE 422 0259 AND 607 8315

GET YOUR MASSAGE DONE BY NONE OTHER THAN THE CARING, LOVING MS B!!!!!

VOCABULARY FOR AUG 17, 2009

2009-08-17T02:04:00.000-07:00

Today's Word
"Unique"
unique \yu-NEEK\ (adjective) - Sole, one of a kind, without equal or match. "Going out with Mary Ellen to the county sausage-eating contest was an almost unique experience in my life." Today's word comes to us, as so many others, from Latin "unicus" via Old French. The underlying root is oi-no- from which English "one" is derived and the reason the article "a" sometimes has an [n] in it (an apple), is that it was originally "one" before all nouns. The Latin variant un-us "one" appears in "union," "unite," "unit," "unanimous," "unicorn," and "universe." People often complain about the (mis)use of this word in the comparative (more unique, most unique). Many dictionaries claim that this reflects a new meaning of the word: "rare, unusual." In fact, the confusion is produced by a peculiarity of the comparative degree of adjectives with a fixed, absolute sense like "unique." Comparison is allowed with these adjectives but the meaning is "more nearly X" ("more nearly unique") and not simply "more X." Notice this is what "more infinite," "more absent," even "fuller" mean. "Fuller" doesn't mean "more than full" but "more nearly full." So, "unique" has not taken on a new meaning; the comparative has, offering a different interpretation for absolute adjectives.

STILL IN MY HEART

2009-08-16T13:52:00.000-07:00

As many of you prepare for the new school year, I take this time to write once more to encourage each student and teacher to come openheartedly, poen mindedly and eagerly to learn, to teach and to be together. Once again I cannot stop saying how much your school years are the best years of your lives, students. Ask any person who is nolonger a student. They crave those days now they are gone forever. And another thing. Stop waiting for tomorrow for the good grades. They will reflex sooner or later when you need that really good job that everyone is aiming for. So, start today to work hard. Do assignments on time and study hard for quizzes, tests and examinations. Do today what will bring you success tomorrow.

I love you all. I miss you all. I am with you always. In your actions, you r thoughts and your happiness. I am in your classroom in the spirit. I am after all the white witch of 139 and I see all, hear all and feel all. Just like I did last year!!! Times have changed and things have happened but LOVE and my BEST WISHES for you all will never change.

God Bless you all.
Yours always, Ms B

VOCABULARY FOR AUG 15, 2009

2009-08-15T19:23:00.000-07:00

Today's Word "Crabwise"
crabwise \KRAB-wyz\ (adjective) - 1 : Sideways. 2 : In a cautious or roundabout manner. "Always cautious and slow to move in new directions, Esther's company was moving crabwise towards modernity." From the sideways movement of crabs.

VOCABULARY FOR JULY 30, 2009

2009-07-30T17:20:00.000-07:00

Today's Word "multifarious"
multifarious \muhl-tuh-FAIR-ee-uhs\ (adjective) - Having great diversity or variety; of various kinds; diversified. "Others will follow, others will outstrip me on the same lines; and I hazard the guess that man will be ultimately known for a mere polity of multifarious, incongrous and independent denizens." -- Robert Louis Stevenson, 'The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde' Multifarious derives from Latin multifariam, "on many sides; in many places."

Here, Here! 13 Years Of Perfect Attendance

2009-07-22T08:53:00.000-07:00

Dear CCC ACE, CJC ACE Students, and all my readers out there,
Wish you all could have perfect attendance for at least one year!!! haha. Read this article and see how a student proves she is committed to her education! Have a great day.

Md. Senior a Get-Up-and-Go Teen
By Daniel de Vise
Washington Post Staff Writer Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Cal Ripken, Iron Man of the Baltimore Orioles, played in 2,632 consecutive baseball games.

Stefanie Zaner, Iron Kid of Darnestown, is closing in on her 2,340th straight day of public school.
The 18-year-old is unlikely to get the standing ovation afforded Ripken for his streak when she arrives at Northwest High School on Friday for the last day of senior classes in Montgomery County.
But hers is a rare accomplishment. Not once in 13 years was Stefanie marked absent: not for a cold, a family vacation, a college visit or a senior skip day. She once went on a freshman trip to Shanghai with the school marching band and boarded the plane with her clarinet only after securing written assurance from the principal that the trip would not count as an absence. She has never broken a bone, thrown up or caught the flu or even a bad cough, she said.
"There were days in high school when I thought she was too tired to get up," said Debbie Zaner, Stefanie's mother. "But by high school, it was up to her. It wasn't up to me."
Perfect attendance for even one year is an elusive goal. Schools are germ factories. Kids play hooky. Families travel. Religious holidays sometimes require attendance elsewhere. Even conscientious students take the occasional personal day to prepare for a test or catch up on homework.
An informal survey of 20 local school systems turned up just one other graduating senior with perfect attendance since kindergarten (officially, 180 days a year, for 13 years, although the exact annual total hinges on snow days): Kristen Waddle, 18, of Brentsville District High School in Prince William County. A third student, Austin White of Mountain View High School in Stafford County, hasn't missed a day since first grade. There might be others.
Kristen's attendance effort in elementary school was nothing short of heroic: She showed up every day despite moving twice and changing schools three times. Staying home was boring -- or so she heard from her brother. There was a no-TV rule, strictly enforced.
"We could sit in our room and read. That was it," she said.
The Prince William senior remembers nearly ending her streak once or twice in high school from sheer exhaustion. An after-school job kept her out until 10 some nights.
"I have these days where I'm like, 'I do not want to be here,' " she said. "I'm just the kid who shows up on those days."
Austin, 18, thinks he knows the moment he decided nothing would keep him from school. It was about fifth grade, the night before a standardized test. "I was puking buckets, and my Mom asked, 'Do you want to stay home?' And I said, 'No, I've got to go to school, I've got to take the test.' "
To keep the streak alive, the Stafford teenager has passed up national baseball tournaments. Even an ankle sprain sophomore year, he said, "wasn't a good-enough reason to stay home."
Stefanie, like Kristen and Austin, didn't enter kindergarten intent on never missing school. The goal crept up on her. Her principal at Darnestown Elementary School, Larry Chep, gave out annual awards for perfect attendance. She won a couple, then found she "really liked being recognized for something." By the end of fifth grade, when Chep recognized her for six consecutive years without absence, Stefanie stood alone.
Chep remembers her as "one of those kids you want in your school." Stefanie returns to Darnestown Elementary each spring to help her fourth-grade teacher take down her classroom and organize her closet.
Iron Man Cal earned his nickname by playing through injury. So did Stefanie, in a way, coming to school sick or, more often, dead tired. She's never had a serious illness or a high fever, she said, a claim to which friends and teachers attest. If anything, sniffly classmates fretted about making her sick. Austin and Kristen, too, are preternaturally healthy.
Stefanie will attend the University of Maryland in its honors program. She wants to be a doctor. She is a straight-A student.
"That's since third grade," her mother said in the family kitchen.
"Since fourth grade," Stefanie interjected.
And just what sort of person earns straight A's for 10 years -- make that nine -- without missing a day of school? A perfectionist. A worrier. An overachiever. Stefanie is all of those, by her own account.
The quest for perfection begat hardship and regret. "I didn't get to do any senior skip days," Stefanie said. "I didn't get to do any college visits."
The past two years "have probably been the most stressful years of my life," she said. It wasn't just the homework, the strain of taking multivariable calculus and studying for Advanced Placement tests. It was the mounting pressure to stay perfect, to get to school every day, to earn only A's.
"There were times I felt completely overwhelmed and thought I was never going to be able to maintain this image that everyone had of me," she said.
Stefanie came to school early many mornings and visited the classroom of Carolyn Diggs, her sophomore math teacher, who became her confidante. She would vent to Diggs when things weren't perfect. The teacher helped her learn to lose a few battles and focus on winning the war.
"Nothing less than 100 percent is good enough for her," Diggs said.
Stefanie seems to draw her motivation from within, although her mother is a former PTA president known for working through daily task lists. Debbie and Rob Zaner, a dentist, recall leaning more on Stefanie's older brother, Jordan.
"Jordan would say, 'If I get the B, I'm happy,' " Rob Zaner recalled. "Stef would say, 'If I don't get the A, my life is coming to an end.' "
Stefanie's friends like her partly for her imperfections, such as her weakness for bling and propensity to show up at tennis practice "diva'd out," in the words of longtime friend Chelsea Hoggle, 17.
Chelsea also recalls the hours Stefanie toiled last year creating photo albums for friends as graduation gifts and the many lunch periods her friend spent visiting teachers and tutoring classmates.
"She doesn't do things halfway," Chelsea said.

Teen alcohol poisoning in Germany doubled

2009-07-06T22:42:00.000-07:00

HAMBURG, Germany (UPI) -- The number of adolescents in Germany admitted to the hospital for alcohol poisoning has more than doubled since 2000, researchers said. Reports by the German Federal Commissioner for Narcotic Drugs said the number of adolescents treated in the hospital for alcohol poisoning went from 9,500 in 2000 to 23,165 in 2007. About 3,800 of these alcohol poisoning patients were ages 10-15, the study said. Martin Stolle and colleagues of the German Center for Addiction Research in Childhood and Adolescence in Hamburg said that the main reason for the increase was the number of intoxicated teen girls. Teenagers who start drinking alcohol regularly before the age of 15 have a four-fold increased risk of becoming alcohol dependent, the researchers said. The findings were published in the current edition of Deutsches Arzteblatt International.
Copyright 2009 by United Press International

VOCABULARY FOR JUNE 27, 2009

2009-06-27T15:05:00.000-07:00

Today's Word "excoriate"
excoriate \ek-SKOR-ee-ayt\ (transitive verb) - 1 : To express strong disapproval of; to denounce. 2 : To tear or wear off the skin of. "Besides which there stirred not the least breath of wind, and flies and gadflies did swarm in prodigious quantity, which, settling upon her excoriate flesh, stung her so shrewdly that 'twas as if she received so many stabs with a javelin, and she was ever restlessly feeling her sores with her hands, and cursing herself, her life, her lover, and the scholar." -- Giovanni Boccaccio, 'The Decameron' Excoriate comes from Late Latin excoriatus, past participle of excoriare, "to take the skin or hide off, to flay (literally or figuratively)," from Latin ex-, "off" + corium, "skin, hide."

CONGRATULATIONS.. but did you remember...?

2009-06-15T23:35:00.000-07:00

Once again it was graduation time and once again proud parents and friends flocked the location to witness the graduation ceremonies. All was as always... well not really but we won´t go there, not now.

I wish to congratulate all the graduates of CCC ACE and CJC ACE. You did not surprise me in the least. You did exactly what I expected of you. Nothing more, nothing less.

Have a great life. Have a great time changing your lives. Go forth and be ambitious. Just don´t forget RESPECT, HONOUR, DIGNITY, LOVE, HOPE, JOY, KINDNESS AND GRATITUDE. Many Belizeans today seem to have forgotten what all these words are about. Try hard to not be a statistic. Be different. Make changes in your country and your lives. Never look back if it is not for something worth while or someone, for that matter. Many of you forgot something every important on graduation day and on the days leading to graduation. It made me sad but I guess we can only teach you so much and learning everything is not in your hearts YET. Hopefully one day you will remember and correct that which you let go off so quickly. And if you never do, well then one less thing will have been achieved on that great day, your graduation and what it stood for. If you read this you may not even realize what I am talking about. I will leave it up to you to seek out and find that which is lost.

Good luck,
Ms B

WHAT ARE THE TRUE MEANING OF SOME WORDS? PART III

2009-06-11T15:06:00.000-07:00

LOVE AND MUSIC: THEY GO TOGETHER AND MY ONE TRUE LOVE AND I. DOES IT FEEL THE SAME WAY TO YOU?

RESPECT: ALL THOSE WHO DO RIGHT OR HELP THOSE IN NEED SHOULD RECIEVE YOUR RESPECT. NOTE, TODAY IT IA HARD TO FIND RESPECT IN OUR YOUNG PEOPLE. PLEASE LISTEN TO ME AND LEARN TO BE RESPECTFUL. IT WILL OPEN MANY DOORS FOR YOU!!

COMPASSION: SOMEWHERE, SOMEHOW THERE IS SOMEONE WAITING FOR US TO BE COMPASSIONATE. IT IS HOW LIFE IS.

WHAT ARE THE TRUE MEANING OF SOME WORDS? PART II

2009-06-10T06:43:00.000-07:00

SOLITUDE: ALL ALONE. WHAT MORE DO I NEED TO WRITE?

PAIN: A LOST SO PROFUND, SO TOTAL...

MUSIC: CAN THERE EVER BE TOO MUCH MUSIC TO FILL OUR LIVES WITH HAPPINESS, SORROW OR WONDER?

WHAT ARE THE TRUE MEANING OF SOME WORDS?

2009-06-09T14:34:00.000-07:00

DEPARTURE - A LOST HEART, A LOST FATHER, A LOST NEVER TO BE RETURNED
SORROW: A FEELING OF LOST WHEN SOMEONE LEAVES YOU BEHIND TO FACE A NEW CHALLENGE YOU KNOW THEY WOULD LOVE TO SHARE

LOVE: NO MATTER THE OBSTACLE OR THE DIFFERENCE, THE HEART KNOWS WHAT IT FEELS AND HOW IT FEELS AND THAT HAPPINESS IS CALLED LOVE

KEEP ON READING THIS BLOG AS THERE ARE MORE IMPORTANT WORDS TO COME IN THE FOLLOWING DAYS

GRAMMAR can be fun too!!!!

2009-06-08T00:00:00.000-07:00

Use 'Fewer' Where It Counts
Q. More and more I hear the improper use of the word "less." I was taught that "fewer" is the word to use when referring to things that can be counted, however I rarely hear it anymore. Has this word fallen out of vogue and been replaced with "less" as a one-word-fits-all situation? -- Beulah Dillon, Black River, N.Y. A. I hereby nominate you for membership in SpuDBuFL -- the Society for the Preservation of the Distinction Between Fewer and Less. SPuDBuFL was founded by my seventh-grade English teacher, Emily Morris, who now lives in Saginaw, Mich., and reads this column regularly. (Hi, Mrs. Morris! I'm almost done with that extra-credit book report I promised you back in 1961.) The rule for "fewer" and "less" remains firm: "Fewer" should be used with countable items, e.g. "fewer people," "fewer ideas," "10 items or fewer." "Less" should be used with nouns that typically refer to a mass instead of an individual item, e.g. "less luggage," "less honesty," "less money." As with most rules, there are exceptions. "Less than," not "fewer than," is used before a plural noun denoting a measure of time, amount or distance ("less than five minutes," "less than $800," "less than 20 miles"). And "less" can be used with count nouns in the expressions "no less than, "or less" and "one less" ("no less than 100 people," "25 words or less," "one less problem to worry about"). The most common mistake is using "fewer" for "less" ("less people," "less ideas," "10 items or less"). When tempted to do this, pull the SpuDBuFL membership card from your wallet, and read the slogan Mrs. Morris taught me: "Use 'fewer' where it counts." Q. My daughter received this question from her teacher: "How does reading an eyewitness account of an historical event enrich your understanding?" Should it be "a historical event"? -- Jan, Windsor, Conn. A. Traditionally, grammarians have decreed that "a" should be used before words starting with "h" if the "h" is pronounced. So it would be "a house" and "a historical event," but "an hour" and "an honor." But when the accent falls on the second syllable, the "h" is barely pronounced. So reputable authorities -- even the redoubtable Mrs. Morris -- now accept the use of "an" before such words, as in "an historical event" "an habitual offender," "an homogenized mixture." It simply sounds more natural. ======== Rob Kyff, a teacher and writer in West Hartford, Conn., invites your language sightings. Send your reports of misuse and abuse, as well as examples of good writing, via e-mail to Wordguy@aol.com or by regular mail to Rob Kyff, Creators Syndicate, 5777 W. Century Blvd., Suite 700, Los Angeles, CA 90045. To find out more about Rob Kyff and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.
Copyright 2009 Creators Syndicate Inc.

VOCABULARY FOR JUNE 7, 2009

2009-06-07T23:56:00.000-07:00

Today's Word "concupiscence"
concupiscence \kon-KYOO-puh-suhn(t)s; kuhn-\ (noun) - Strong desire, especially sexual desire; lust. "Now, to speak of the first desire, that is, concupiscence, accordint to the law for our sexual parts, which were lawfully made and by rightful word of God; I say, for as much as man is not obedient to God, Who is his Lord, therefore is the flesh disobedient to Him, through concupiscence, wich is also called the nourishing of and the reason for sin." -- Geoffrey Chaucer, 'The Canterbury Tales' Concupiscence is from Late Latin concupiscentia, from the present participle of Latin concupiscere, "to desire eagerly," from com-, intensive prefix + cupere, "to desire." The adjective form is concupiscent. The name of the ancient Roman god of love, Cupid, comes from the same root.

VOCABULARY FOR JUNE 6, 2009

2009-06-06T23:53:00.000-07:00

AS I GO INTO THE TWILIGHT

2009-06-05T06:39:00.000-07:00

(This Poem is dedicated to all the students of CCC ACE and CJC ACE)

As I enter into the twilight,

In a zone that is unknown,

My thoughts are of all the people I leave behind,

Of all the friends with whom I have grown.

I have shed many tears over the days,

And twisted and turned in my sleep,

For you all were everything in many ways,

And now the hurt is really deep.

But life is but a day to day reality,

And dreams are born and some do die,

So while we sometimes hide from sincerity,

The love I have for all of you, I cannot lie.

So I enter into the twilight,

Into the zone of no return,

Knowing that even when you´re out of sight,

From me you still have a lot to learn.

So will you come with me?

As I move away from where I use to be,

Will you remember all I said and did,

Or will you close the door and cover it like a jar with a lid?

For I´m going into the twilight,

Where only a few dare to go,

And when morning comes after the night,

I will be there no more.

Farewell, my children, my life,

You must go on without me,

For I´ve gone into the twilight,

Into that place which sets me free.

Brenda Aurora Ysaguirre

VOCABULARY FOR JUNE 4, 2009

2009-06-04T23:36:00.000-07:00

Today's Word "precocious"
precocious \pri-KOH-shus\ (adjective) - 1 : Characterized by or characteristic of exceptionally early development or maturity (especially in mental aptitude); as, "a precocious child"; "a precocious achievement." 2 : (Botany) Flowering or fruiting early. "Henry was precocious. His parents had great hopes for their offspring, and Henry, because he was so bright, seemed set apart for great things." -- Mary V. Dearborn, 'The Happiest Man Alive' Precocious is from Latin praecox, praecocis, ripe before the time, premature, cooked beforehand, from praecoquo, praecoquere, to cook in advance, from prae-, before + coquo, coquere, to cook, to ripen.

GREETINGS TO A FINE GROUP OF YOUNG PEOPLE

2009-05-14T17:03:00.001-07:00

As you near the end of your schooling at CCC ACE, it is time to look back and see where you have gone and where you want to go. Many will be the changes in your life and many will be the joys and sorrow, the ups and downs. I pray that you are blessed with all that is good and that the world recieves you with open arms.

Just remember one thing I WILL LOVE YOU ALWAYS.

Ms B
Gone but not forgotten

AS I CLOSE A CHAPTER

2009-05-06T00:44:00.000-07:00

Dearest Students,
As I close a chapter in my life, I look back at the many things we have done together. We have laughed, we have joked, we have worked and most importantly we have loved.

All I want to say to you tonight, or this morning, as it is now a quarter to two, is that you have been the world to me. You have each filled a space in my heart and in my soul. All my tomorrows will have meaning because you have shared my todays.

I may have been many things: a mother, a friend, a teacher, a dramatist, a comedian, a director and a mentor. God has been good. He has taken me to places and I have seen many great things come from my sincerity and my kindness. I thank you for sharing my life, my joys and my sorrows. I now invite you to share my tomorrows.

As I fade into the twilight, I take with me your life, your friendship, your joys and your sorrows. Even though we will be apart, I take you in my heart. Study and be all that you can be. Smile and remember: you are the ruler of your destiny. NO ONE CAN TAKE THAT AWAY FROM YOU. You have the power to make things happen. Take my love with you and let it grow. Take my friendship and let it shine. Many will try to tarnish and darken my name and many have been the reason of this separation from the best thing that had ever happened to me - my opportunity of sharing your lives. To them we say: YOU CAN´T STOP THIS! LA LUCHA SIGUE!

My house is open at all times for you and you families. Come see me sometimes.
Love always,
Ms. B

healthy living begins with knowledge of what is healthy

2009-05-03T02:09:00.000-07:00

EAT LOTS OF SWEET POTATOES
It's been said that God first separated the salt water from the fresh, made dry land, planted a garden, made animals and fish... All before making a human. He made and provided what we'd need before we were born. These are best & more powerful when eaten raw. We're such slow learners... God left us a great clue as to what foods help what part of our body! God's Pharmacy! Amazing! A sliced Carrot looks like the human eye. The pupil, iris and radiating lines look just like the human eye... And YES, science now shows carrots greatly enhance blood flow to and function of the eyes. A Tomato has four chambers and is red. The heart has four chambers and is red. All of the research shows tomatoes are loaded with lycopine and are indeed pure heart and blood food. Grapes hang in a cluster that has the shape of the heart. Each grape looks like a blood cell and all of the research today shows grapes are also profound heart and blood vitalizing food. A Walnut looks like a little brain, a left and right hemisphere, upper cerebrums and lower cerebellums. Even the wrinkles or folds on the nut are just like the neo-cortex. We now know walnuts help develop more than three (3) dozen neuron-transmitters for brain function. Kidney Beans actually heal and help maintain kidney function and yes, they look exactly like the human kidneys. Celery, Bok Choy, Rhubarb and many more look just like bones. These foods specifically target bone strength. Bones are 23% sodium and these foods are 23% sodium. If you don't have enough sodium in your diet, the body pulls it from the bones, thus making them weak. These foods replenish the skeletal needs of the body. Avocadoes, Eggplant and Pears target the health and function of the womb and cervix of the female - they look just like these organs. Today's research shows that when a woman eats one avocado a week, it balances hormones, sheds unwanted birth weight, and prevents cervical cancers. And how profound is this? It takes exactly nine (9) months to grow an avocado from blossom to ripened fruit.. There are over 14,000 photolytic chemical constituents of nutrition in each one of these foods (modern science has only studied and named about 141 of them). Figs are full of seeds and hang in twos when they grow. Figs increase the mobility of male sperm and increase the numbers of Sperm as well to overcome male sterility. Sweet Potatoes look like the pancreas and actually balance the glycemic index of diabetics. Olives assist the health and function of the ovaries Oranges, Grapefruits, and other Citrus fruits look just like the mammary glands of the female and actually assist the health of the breasts and the movement of lymph in and out of the breasts. Onions look like the body's cells. Today's research shows onions help clear waste materials from all of the body cells. They even produce tears which wash the epithelial layers of the eyes. A working companion, Garlic, also helps eliminate waste materials and dangerous free radicals from the body.

NEW FOR BELIZE IN SPANISH ( For 3rd Yrs so they can practice their Spanish for the CSEC exam)

2009-05-01T21:40:00.000-07:00

NOTICIAS DESTACADAS EN BELICE
Jueves, 30 de abril de 2009.

Influenza porcina. Después de que la Organización Mundial de la Salud (OMS) elevó el nivel de alerta de pandemia de 4 a 5, el gobierno de Belice ordenó la suspensión de todos los eventos públicos hasta nuevo aviso, entre ellos la Feria de Agricultura y Comercio de Belice 2009. Informó que no existen casos confirmados en Belice, pero muestras de 4 casos de interés fueron enviados a Trinidad y Tobago para realizar pruebas, al tiempo que comenzó a funcionar el número telefónico de información (hot line). No se permitirá que personas enfermas desciendan de los cruceros en Belice. Por otro lado, descartó el cierre de las fronteras en razón de que no ha sido recomendado por las normas internacionales de salud. Algunos beliceños han comenzado a hacer compras de pánico o a adquirir artículos sanitarios. Continúa el monitoreo en la frontera con México y las escuelas en el norte reforzaron sus medidas de vigilancia.

El Salvador. Ayer, el presidente saliente de El Salvador, Elías Antonio Saca, realizó una breve visita a Belice, como parte de su gira por países centroamericanos con el fin de despedirse de su cargo como mandatario de ese país. Saca recibió la orden de Belice de manos del Primer Ministro Dean Barrow. A su vez, el mandatario salvadoreño confirió al PM Barrow la Orden Nacional de José Matías Delgado.

Ex Primer Ministro. Ayer concluyó la etapa de argumentos en el caso del recurso judicial promovido por el ex Primer Ministro Said Musa contra la decisión de un magistrado de ser sometido a juicio por robo de US$10 millones donados por Venezuela a Belice. El abogado de Musa aseguró que no hay evidencia suficiente, el tipo penal no es aplicable a este caso y las pruebas ofrecidas por la fiscal no son adecuadas.

Policía. El Sindicato de Trabajadores del Estado (PSU) criticó la forma como se han realizado los nuevos nombramientos y los ascensos de altos oficiales de la Policía, debido a que son contrarios a la ley; sin embargo, no objeta a las personas que han sido designadas. Hoy, el comisionado de la Policía, Gerald Westby, entregará el mando al nuevo comisionado Crispin Jeffries.

Inflación. De acuerdo con el Instituto de Estadística de Belice (SIB), la inflación anual para alimentos y bebidas alcanzó cerca del 12% en febrero de 2009.

Petróleo. Después de los mutuos señalamientos entre el PM Dean Barrow y el Instituto Sarstoon Temash de Administración Indígena (SATIIM) sobre el permiso otorgado por el gobierno de Belice a la empresa petrolera US Capital Energy para conducir una prueba sísmica en el parque nacional Sarstoon Temash, representantes del SATIIM aclararon su deseo de alcanzar un acuerdo con el gobierno. Respecto a las reivindicaciones mayas sobre la tenencia de la tierra, precisaron que no se pretende imponer a todo el distrito de Toledo (sur de Belice). Hoy el SATIIM se reunirá con el PM Barrow.

Protección de parque. Respecto al desmonte de la cima en el pico Victoria, la organización Belize Audobon Society indicó que la acción fue ilegal e innecesaria, debido a que en el área ya existen plataformas para el aterrizaje de helicópteros. El pasado 8 de abril, una parte de ese parque nacional fue talada presuntamente para el aterrizaje de un helicóptero de la Unidad de Apoyo para Entrenamiento en Belice del Ejército Británico (BATSUB).

Ataque a maestro. El Sindicato Nacional de Maestros de Belice (BNTU) ha condenado el ataque de un padre de familia contra un profesor en Solid Rock Academy en Dangriga (sur de Belice) la semana pasada. El Sindicato exigió al gobierno establecer legislación disciplinaria contra estos casos que incluya asesoramiento, multas o, en su caso, sanciones penales.

Noticias relacionadas con MéxicoAnuncio presidencial. El Presidente Felipe Calderón anunció la suspensión de actividades no esenciales del gobierno del 1° al 5 de mayo. Invitó a la población a permanecer en sus casas. Aseguró a la población que existe suficientes antivirales para atender la influenza porcina. Destacó y se mostró orgulloso por la respuesta favorable de los mexicanos para seguir las medidas adoptadas por las autoridades.

Por otro lado, el periódico Amandala informó sobre el desarrollo de los eventos en los últimos días en México. Mientras que la Embajada de México informó el estado que guarda la situación en México, no se han cerrado las fronteras, ni existen restricciones al transporte de personas o de productos; en Quintana Roo no se ha reportado ningún caso de influenza porcina, las autoridades distribuyen información y se monitorean los lugares públicos como las estaciones de autobuses y los aeropuertos .

Apagón. Según la compañía de electricidad de Belice, BEL, una interrupción en el suministro de electricidad procedente de México causó un apagón en Belice ayer por la madrugada. Al parecer, el corte de energía se originó en la red de Mérida y que afectó Chetumal. La electricidad fue restaurada 12 minutos después.

Greetings on this Blessed Day to my CCC ACE FAMILY

2009-04-12T00:47:00.000-07:00

To all my students, faculty and staff, here's hoping you arehaving a wonderful time.

Your Director,

Ms B

VOCABULARY WORD OF THE DAY

2009-04-04T10:14:00.000-07:00

I've been away for a long time. Studying and working does not leave much time for blogging. Here comes the Easter holidays so I will try to take this time to do some blogs. Be patient ith me, please.
I love you all.
Brenda

Today's Word "insouciant"
insouciant \in-SOO-see-uhnt\ (adjective) - Marked by lighthearted unconcern or indifference; carefree; nonchalant. "Jonas's insouciant good humor concealed something more. There was certainly nothing insouciant in his hazel eyes." -- Stephanie Laurens, 'All About Love' Insouciant is from the French, from in-, "not" + souciant, "caring," present participle of soucier, "to trouble," from Latin sollicitare, "to disturb," from sollicitus, "anxious." The noun form is insouciance

WHEN FRIENDS DO US WRONG

2009-01-31T23:06:00.000-08:00

IT TAKES A FRIEND, TO ...
Well ladies, here is February 1st, 2009. One month down and eleven more to go before we say good bye to 2009.Anyone out there feeling that they have been used or hurt by someone they trusted. Well if you are like that then sit back and read something that I discovered.Firstly, there is no true friend in this world anymore. Everyone is out to blast someone. Everyone is out to get what they can from someone and everyone have an issue and if they are like some people I met well…… then you are in for a long haul.I met this woman back in November of 2007 and from what I could see she seem okay. Then in September of 2008 she was back and once again she seemed fine. We became friends and would chat for long period of time. Then I had the bad luck of fining out she is just like all the other women who come around. In fact, because of her my life took a change that I am still trying to comprehend. Today I have stopped talking to her and have avoided being where she is. I need to tell someone that she is not all she pretends to be because she has told me some things that make her to be just like all the other gold diggers around who are out to find what they can get from those who feel they need to help others. Then she went and did the unforgiveable and she knows what I am talking about. I have no intention of keeping in contact with a fake and now I feel I should tell the person she is using that she is not the woman she wants us to think she is.What I have to say about this sort of “friendship” is WE DON’T NEED IT. And if the person really does get more from us than we get from them, then we can leave and never look back. I am giving my so called “friend” the silent treatment. I may never visit her home and I may never buy her meal again. She proved to me that she was not a friend and I am sorry but this world is filled with persons who are looking for someone to share good and bad time that we don’t have time for those who lie and cheat.Something to ponder on:How do we know if we have a true friend? The signs will be there. You will be able to see it in their actions more times than not. But the bottom dollar is we have to learn to read the signs. They are everywhere.

A MESSAGE ON EXAMINATION WEEK TO ALL CCC ACE STUDENTS

2009-01-21T10:50:00.000-08:00

This week the CCC ACE Division is on examinations for the first semester. With two days down and to to go, it may be too later to say much to the students. Anyhow, I just want to wish each and everyone all the success in the world. I hope you were prepared for each exam because as you know those who get ahead are those who are prepared for all circumstances.

Success comes for those you toil by day and by night for in the search for knowledge there is no space for rest.
(Brenda A. Ysaguirre)

LOTS OF LOVE AND BEST WISHES,
Ms B
Your Faithful Director and Teacher

2009-01-11T01:00:00.000-08:00

Classic Quotes by Carl Sandburg (1878-1967) American poet and biographer

A baby is God's opinion that life should go on.

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A book is never a masterpiece: it becomes one. Genius is the talent of a dead man.

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A man may be born, but in order to be born he must first die, and in order to die he must first awake.

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All human actions are equivalent... and all are on principle doomed to failure.

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And how should a beautiful, ignorant stream of water know it heads for an early release - out across the desert, running toward the Gulf, below sea level, to murmur its lullaby, and see the Imperial Valley rise out of burning sand with cotton blossoms, wheat, watermelons, roses, how should it know?

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Anger is the most impotent of passions. It effects nothing it goes about, and hurts the one who is possessed by it more than the one against whom it is directed.

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Arithmetic is where the answer is right and everything is nice and you can look out of the window and see the blue sky - or the answer is wrong and you have to start over and try again and see how it comes out this time.

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Here is the difference between Dante, Milton, and me. They wrote about hell and never saw the place. I wrote about Chicago after looking the town over for years and years.

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I am an idealist. I don't know where I'm going but I'm on my way.

TODAY'S WORD

2009-01-10T01:58:00.000-08:00

adventitious \aed-ven-TI-shehs\ (adjective) - 1 : An extraneous part of a system found in an unusual place, as adventitious roots growing from the trunk of a tree; 2 : added extraneously, not inherent or natural, out of place.

"Margaret arrived in a matching skirt and sweater outfit, leather pumps, and an adventitious yellow purse that raised more than one eyebrow."

Latin adventicius "foreign" from adventus "arrival" the past participle of advenire "to arrive, come to" based on ad "(up) to" + venire "to come." This word is visible in English "advent," "adventure," "souvenir," and others. "Venire" goes back to Proto-Indo-European *gwem- "go, come." In Germanic, the [g] became [k] and the [w] disappeared by regular processes, leading to English "come" and German "kommen." Today's word resembles "adventurous" and you might be tempted to confuse the two. Although both derive from the same source, the two words are distinct. The adverb for today's word is "adventitiously" and the noun is "adventitiousness."

TOPDAY'S WORD IS...

2009-01-09T01:56:00.000-08:00

hyponasty \HI-peh-naes-ti\ (noun) - The upward curving of leaves caused by faster growth on the bottom than the top.

"Buddy was a hyponastic acquaintance whose curves resulted from ice cream speeding up growth on his bottom."

Greek hypo "below, under" + nastos "pressed close" (from nassein "to press"). Greek "hypo" strangely shares an origin with English "up." The original root had a variant with an initial [s] that resulted in Latin sub "under". This root is also related to its antonym, Greek "hyper" (Latin "super"), extended by the common Indo-European suffix -er. Words often share an origin with their antonym, "cold" and "scald," are an example. A very common slip of the tongue is an antonym substitution, e.g. "I was very cold . . . I mean, hot." Antonyms may be logically antithetical but lexically they form a close relationship.

Today's Word

2009-01-08T01:55:00.000-08:00

testimony \TES-teh-mo-nee\ (noun) - 1 : The account of a witness, especially in a court procedure; 2 : evidence in general; 3 : a public declaration of a religious experience.

"The tall, toppling chimney bore mute testimony of the mansion that once stood on the spot."

This word comes to us from Old French testimonie (current French temoin "witness") from Latin "testimonium," made up of testis "witness" and, possibly, a noun from monere "to remind." "Testis," believe it or not, comes from the same root as Latin tri "three," also the origin of our "three." It was originally a compound noun rather like *tri-sta-i- meaning, roughly, "third person standing by," with the *sta- root found in English "stand" and "stead." How the meaning of the Latin word wandered off to its current sense in English is one of the great unsolved mysteries of etymology. The plural of today's word is "testimonies" and the verb underlying it is "testify." However, the person who testifies is a witness rather than a testifier.

Classic Quotes by Lucretia Mott (1793-1880) American feminist

2009-01-07T20:52:00.000-08:00

It is not Christianity, but priestcraft that has subjected

woman as we find her.

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Learning, while at school, that the charge for the education of girls was the same as that for boys, and that, when they became teachers, women received only half as much as men for their services, the injustice of this distinction was so apparent.

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The world has never yet seen a truly great and virtuous nation because in the degradation of woman the very fountains of life are poisoned at their source.

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The cause of Peace has had my share of efforts, taking the ultra non-resistance ground - that a Christian cannot consistently uphold, and actively support, a government based on the sword, or whose ultimate resort is to the destroying weapons.

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We too often bind ourselves by authorities rather than by the truth.

HAPPY NEW YEAR, CAROLYN AND CIARRA

2009-01-02T01:04:00.000-08:00

Dearest Carolyn,

This was the first year I was unable to be with you all for Christmas and New Years Day is here and I am filled with so much love and wishes for you. Daughter, you have been and will always be the joy of my life. You have been loved from the moment I found out I was carrying you in my womb. The love your father and I had for each other and the love we had when you arrived was special.

Over the years I became a single parent and that did not stop me from seeing you through high school, Sixth Form and University. Today you are thousands of miles away in Georgia, USA but you remain in my heart as the ray of sunshine that has brighten and guided me over the years.

I wish you all the best, Bibs. If Tia Brenda and Chichi were alive I know they would be so proud of all that you have achieved. I know that I am proud of you and have always been proud of you. Your successes are my successes. Keep on attaining that star that shines in your eyes and heart.
As we move into 2009, I look forward to seeing you and being with you. Keep on smiling and joking and being the best friend a mother could ask for. Baby girl, you are my greatest achievement. You are the best poem I have ever written, the best song I have ever sang and the best speech I have ever given. Reach for the unreachable and remember that you can be all you want to be.

Just say I CAN and you will be surprised at how much you will be able to do.

I love you and always will,

Mama

Ciarra, my little princess,From the first moment I held you in my arms I knew you were grandma's girl. You are my joy and my peace. You are my blooming lily, my walking happiness. God Bless you my little angel. You are loved and you are cared for. Keep on making us proud of you. Keep on smiling and keep on learning.

Your journey of life has just began. You have much to achieve and you will!
I love you and I miss you.

Grandma's special little star, know this: I will always be there for you. Reach out and take my hand.

All my love and kisses,

Grandma Brenda

HAPPY NEW YEAR'S DAY

2009-01-01T01:20:00.000-08:00

IT IS FINALLY HERE! 2009. THE YEAR WE THOUGHT WE WOULD NEVER LIVE TO SEE.

Have a happy New Year. May this year be filled with many wonderful things for you and your family. May you have all that your heart desires and deserves. May you always have good friends, good times and many wonderful experiences.

God bless on this special day.

Now for the sad news.

CCC ACe you come back to classes on Monday 5th January, 2009. Hahahaha. I miss you too much!! No, serious. CCC will commence on the 5th and so do you at ACE. Trust me it hurts me too!

Love always,

Brenda A. Ysaguirre

Diretor

IT'S NEW YEARS EVE

2008-12-31T01:51:00.000-08:00

YOU LIT A CANDLE IN THE NIGHT,
AND EVERYTHING TURNED OUT RIGHT.
YOU SAT BEHIND A DESK OF WHITE,
AND KNOWLEDGE CAME AT NIGHT.
YOU CAME TO LEARN AND GOT FAR MORE,
WHEN YOU GRADUATED AND WALKED OUT THROUGH THE DOOR.

THANKS FOR BEING A PART OF CCC ACE AND CJC ACE.
WITH LOVE,
MS B

It's New Year's Eve!. The last day of the year 2008.

Time to sit down, take a deep breath and try to go over all the things we did in the year. Were there things we could have done differently? I guess so. Were there things we are proud of? Hell, YES!!! Are there things we want to forget? Of Course! Are there things we still want to try again? You, betcha!

See! That is what being a human being is all about! That is what makes us all the people we are. That is what makes us or breaks us.

But as students of CCC ACE and CJC ACE you have a fighting chance in life. You have the power to cross mountains, to swim rivers, to conquer the ocean, to see the world. You have it all within your grasp because you have the ACE programme. It is a great programme. It is a solid programme. You can see that it works if you visit the Belize Bank in Corozal town where Catherine Watson is a teller and a graduate of CCC and CJC ACE along with Mrs. Francisca Alcoser who is second to the Manager at the same bank and a graduate of CJC ACE.

At the BWL, the water company, we have Mrs. Martha Alamilla. She is a graduate of the first class ever to come out of CJC ACE and she is the manager of that office!

At Atlantic Bank we have David Quan who should be finishing his degree this year. David is a Loans Clerk.

At Social Security we have Milton Hoare, a graduate and Dana Cayetana a first year student of CJC ACE.

At the Post office the Post Mistress is Carmen Vasquez, a graduate of the first group out of CJC ACE.

At CLICO we have Mrs. Elma Vivas, the Office Manager who is a graduate of CJC ACE.

In the Police Force, we have Mr. Patt who graduated from CJC ACE and Mr. Mossiah who graduated from CCC ACE.

At CCC day time we have the Mrs. Raquel Cima Carrillo and Mrs Gisel Noble Alpuche. Both graduated from CJC ACE.

And as of today there are 17 teachers in the primary classrooms who have attained their dilpomas as graduates of CJC PED ACE. Some of them are on induction right now.

The Secretary of ACE, Mrs Eva Chi, is agraduat and valedictorian fo CJC ACE.

Yours truly, the director of this fine institution is also a graduate of CJC ACE and a valedictorian.

So tell me. Do I have to continue this list. Hundreds of fine Belizeans have graduated from CCC ACE and CJC ACE. This shows we are good. Thee are people out there who would love to downsize us BUT WE WILL STAND TOGETHER AND WE WILL STAND TALL BECAUSE WE ARE CCC ACE AND CJA ACE AND WE WILL NOT BE DEFEATED.

HIP HIP HOORAY FOR THE ACE PROGRAMME - THE ADULT AND CONTINUING EDUCATION PROGRAMME THAT AS GROWN IN COROZAL AS A CORNERSTONE TO THE SUCCESS OF YOUR FINE YOUNG MEN AND WOMEN.

TO ALL GRADUATES AND TO THOSE AT CCC ACE AND CJC ACE RIGHT NOW, HAVE A WONDER NEW YEAR.

YOU ARE A PART OF A GREAT FORCE IN THE EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM OF THIS FINE COUNTRY.

Some time in 2009 I will take time to write out all the names of the graduates of CCC ACE and CJC ACE. I owe each and every graduate that recognition.

For how enjoy life, enjoy the moment, enjoy family.

Peace and Love,

Brenda A. Ysaguirre

Director, Mentor, Friend

NEW CHALLENGES FOR 2009

2008-12-30T22:38:00.001-08:00

Hope all students of CCCACE and CJC ACE are having a great time while we are closed for Christmas vacations. School re-opens on the 5th for CCC ACE Students and on the 12th for CJC ACE students.
B. Ysaguirre
Director

Success comes to he who is willing to work hard, fight a good fight and sacrifice everything when necessary. (Brenda A. Ysaguirre)

As we near the end of another year we are faced with many new challenges. The economical situation at home and abroad dims the festive moment. If what the analysts are saying is true, we can look forward to a new year filled with more hardship as more people lose there jobs and many others graduate into a world that offers very little for them. Only the strong will survive. Only those who know the true meaning of sacrifice will succeed. Only the fearless will attain the satifaction of a hard day's work for a well earned pay. I do not mean to dampen the eve of New Year's Eve. I only want to make sure we all understand that there will be a lot of hardship but that we can win the battle in the new year if we use stamina and sacrifice. Good Luck to everyone and do have a Happy New Year. Go out or just stay at home and eat some grapes (12 actually to follow the Spanish tradition of one for each month of the year. You eat them just before midnight and our ancestors believed it would give you a good year.)

Have a Blessed New Year.

Remember, we can make 2009 all it was meant to be if we work hard and sacrifice when necessary.Brenda A. Ysaguirre

THE OUTDOOR TEMAZCAL IN COROZAL AT BRENDA'S PREHISPANICO SPA

2008-12-29T01:58:00.000-08:00

A TEMAZCAL GETTING READY FOR YOU IN COROZAL, BELIZE, C. AMERICA

Brenda's PrehiSPAnico, Corozal gets on the way by building the first every Temazcal in the garden in the northern part of Belize. Presently, the Spa offers massage theraphy with an indoor temazcal for one person at a time. This structure will offer temazcals ( a Mayan herbal sauna) for more than 20 persons at a time. Reserve the use of this sauna when it is finish and have a SPA party you will want to repeat again and again! It is good for weight loss, asthma, sinus, headaches, flu’s, backache and other bodily pains, cholesterol, and blood pressure to name just a few of the illnesses you can heal with this wonderful procedure.We are located at 139 Fourth Avenue and 1st Street South in Corozal Town, Belize. Telephone us at 422 0259, 422 0346, 607 8315 or 607 8759 to set up your appointment. Each session is approximately 2 hours long.

As the owner of this Spa I welcome you all. Come in and see for yourselves. No one leaves dissatisfied. In the next post I will give you pictures of what the inside of our spa looks like.Have a wonderful day and a prosperous New Year.

The PrehiSPAnico Spa in Corozal Town, Belize

2008-12-28T13:08:00.000-08:00

The SPA in Corozal is located at 139 Fourth Avenue and 1st Street South, Corozal Town, Belize, C. America

When the floor was just built for the temazcal

HOPE YOUR CHRISTMAS WAS AS WONDERFUL AS YOU ARE.

2008-12-28T10:12:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone,
I am building a Spa at my house. Tell everyone you know. We have gift certificates good up to January 31 going at only $30. If you don't have a gift cetificate as of January 1 the price goes back to the normal $50 for a 2 hours session of massage and Temazcal.

Come visit and see what we have to offer.
Ms B

MERRY CHRISTMAS

2008-12-25T04:37:00.000-08:00

Hi Guys, I bet you won't even be looking at the internet today but just in case I have set up this blog in advance so I can be with my loved ones and still deliver my message to you all.

This year started out rocky and by mid way I sure there would be a drastic change in my life. Today as I write not much has changed but to say the least, I continue the struggle I started one dreary April day. Life is strange. I never thought I would lose so many friends and make more four folded. That is life. I continue on the path to bettering myself as a human being, a mother, a lover, a relative and a friend. On my path many have tried to trample me but love and a great advisor has held me together and only time can tell what will happen but this much I know, whatever you want in life you must be willing to fight for. That is the only way you can feel that you are here for a purpose. Keep on fighting the good fight a parent told me. Her son graduated a few years ago under my guidance and love.

A good fight. A GOOD FIGHT! Is that why we are here? Is that the way things have to be. Sad but true,that is the way it seems. I have tried to forgive and forget but I still struggle daily with the feeling of betrayal and that is why it is hard to do what would have been so easy. Maybe one day I will be able to laugh at it but for now the wound is still raw and the only thing that keeps me going is my students (you all), my family and my man. To all of you I send my love and my deepest wishes that you have a great holiday.

Love yourselves, love others and spread love. Yo PUEDO VIVIR MI VIDA. YO PUEDO TENER ACCION. YO PUEDO PORQUE YO SOY. FELIZ NAVIDAD. HAVE A BLESSED CHRISTMAS.

And remember: WHEN THOSE WHO WOULD BE FRIENDS BECOME OPPONENTS, YOU ARE STRONG, YOU ARE POWER, YOU ARE ONE. DEPEND ON THE POWER WITHIN AND THE STRUGGLE WITHOUT DOUBT WILL PREVAIL.

(Brenda A. Ysaguirre)

Oh, school resumes on 5th January for CCC ACe and January 12 for CJC ACE. No excuses!! Hahahaha.

Love Always,

Miss B

I MISS YOU ALL. SEASON GREETINGS, WITH LOVE!!

2008-12-24T04:26:00.000-08:00

A special time of the year is here once again and as we are all on holiday, I sit at my computer thinking about all my students- all daughters and sons to me. To those who have graduated and moved on to further their studies or have now gotten jobs, I send my love and best wishes. I have now been a teacher for 14 years and so many great minds I have helped to form into what they are today.To each and every student who has come in contact with the B, I send you all my love and best wishes during this holiday time and always.

Take time out to look back on the past and see how you can make a positive impact on your family and friends and most of all on your country. Remember, while you think you can someone is doing what they can!! So, Move it!! Just use two words that are now a part of my existence. Make it yours and you will be successful in all you set out to achieve: I CAN. YO PUEDO.

God Bless,

Ms B

A CHRISTMAS WISH FROM ME TO YOU

2008-12-23T03:02:00.000-08:00

Christmas is just around the bend,
And very soon the year will come to an end.
This year was one filled with many challenges,
But the love of family and friends had no changes.
I hope next year brings you much joy and happiness,
My gift to you is that I wish you all the best.
As life goes on its merry way,
I wish you much peace and joy every day.
Even if we only wrote a short note to each other throughout the year,
It was good to know that you were always internet near.
So as the season once again is here,
I just want to say MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Brenda A. Ysaguirre
Copyright Brenda A. Ysaguirre 2008

VOCABULARY WORD OF THE DAY

2008-11-01T19:32:00.000-07:00

THE WORLD IS FULL OF SURPRISES AND WE ARE CAPABLE OF ACCOMPLISHING MANY NEW AND CHALLENGING THINGS IF WE LET OURSELF DREAM. (Brenda A. Ysaguirre)

Today's Word "cynosure"
cynosure \SY-nuh-shoor; SIN-uh-shoor\ (noun) - 1 : Anything to which attention is strongly turned; a center of attraction. 2 : That which serves to guide or direct. 3 : [Capitalized]. The northern constellation Ursa Minor, which contains the North Star; also, the North Star itself. "They would be the cynosure of all eyes. What was a cynosure and why was it never mentioned except in reference to eyes?" -- Ngaio Marsh, 'False Scent' Cynosure derives from Latin cynosura, from Greek kunosoura, "dog's tail, the constellation Ursa Minor," from kuon, kun-, "dog" + oura, "tail."
eian is from Latin plebeius, from plebs, plebis, "the common people."

AFTER THE STORM- PLEASE HELP BELIZE

2008-10-30T08:04:00.000-07:00

For the time being the rains have stopped and now we have a cold front over Belize. However, all is not over. Now is the time of recovery. The people in the areas that had the flooding ae still suffering. Many are still not in their homes and many have lost most of their personal properties.

NOW IS THE TIME WHEN WE HAVE TO GIVE A HELPING HAND.
PLEASE GIVE GENEROUSLY TO THE RELIEF ORGANIZERS WHO ARE GOING TO TAKE FOOD, MEDICINES AND CLOTHING ( AMONG OTHER THINGS) TO THOSE WHO NOW NEED OUR HELP.

In an effort to assist our brothers and sisters who have suffered so much in the past weeks, the YO PUEDO GROUP OF COROZAL and CCC ACE and CJC ACE have initiated a drive to collect non-persishable goods and clothing. THIS IS THE TIME WHEN WE NEED TO COME TOGETHER. LET US GIVE FROM THE HEART.
TO MY READERS ABROAD, YOU TOO CAN HELP. YOUR MONETARY DONATIONS CAN BE SENT TO THE RED CROSS OF BELIZE OR GET IN CONTACT WITH ME AT 501-607-8315 (3pm to 31am Belize time) OR AT 00521-983-131-5669 FROM 7AM TO 11AM (Mexico time).

Thank you and God Bless.

NENES NUEVOS EN LA CHINA

2008-10-14T15:59:00.000-07:00

Four giant pandas born at center in China
CHENGDU, China (UPI) -- Three giant pandas gave birth to a total of four cubs, all delivered within 14 hours of each other, at a breeding base in southwest China, experts said. Nine-year-old panda, Magic Luck, delivered twin female cubs Saturday at the Chengdu Panda Breeding Research Center, said Yang Feifei, an expert at the base. Eight-year-old panda, Success, delivered a cub Saturday before Pearl, 8, delivered a cub early Sunday, Feifei said. The base is home to 71 giant pandas, Xinhua, China's state-run news agency reported. Giant pandas have become endangered because their habitats are disappearing. Xinhua said about 1,590 pandas exist in China's wild, the majority of which are in Sichuan province and the provinces of Gansu, Shaanxi in the country's northwestern region.

ELF OWLS, BUGS AND HUMAN SALIVA

2008-10-13T07:56:00.000-07:00

Dear Students,

Just a few little things you can do with knowing.

Love and Best wishes,

Ms B
Your Faithful Director and Mentor

What's an elf owl's favorite food?
The smallest of American owls, the elf owl, often nests in the Gila woodpecker’s cactus hole after the woodpecker leaves. The owl measures barely 6 inches tall. It specializes in catching scorpions, seizing each by the tail and nipping off its stinger. It then swallows the scorpion’s body, pincers and all.

Why do Japanese keep bugs?
Bugs hold special places in the hearts of many Japanese, who often keep crickets, beetles and fireflies as pets. Their calls are considered soothing and remind the nature-loving Japanese of a simpler, less hectic age.

Why were gummed envelopes initially upopular?
The first envelopes with gummed flaps were produced in 1844. In Britain, they were not immediately popular because it was thought to be a serious insult to send a person's saliva to someone else.

VOCABULARY WORD OF THE DAY

2008-10-12T07:52:00.000-07:00

How about a sentence with this word too, Second Years?

The code word for the week is CLASSIC!
The first person to tell me it by 6:00pm and gets a treat.

EASY EASY!!!
Love you,
Ms B

Today's Word "alpenglow"
alpenglow \AL-puhn-gloh\ (noun) - A reddish glow seen near sunset or sunrise on the summits of mountains. "I had seen light similar to this in Switzerland, where it was known as alpenglow. But this was no ordinary alpenglow." -- Paul Watkins, 'The Ice Soldier' Alpenglow is a partial translation of German Alpenglühen, from Alpen, "Alps" + glühen, "to glow."

VOCABULARY WORD OF THE DAY

2008-10-11T15:45:00.000-07:00

Dear Students,
Lets learn some new words.
If you give me a sentence with this word early Tuesday evening, you can get a special treat for Halloween!

Learning can be fun, right?

Love always,
Ms B

Today's Word "redact"
redact \rih-DAKT\ (transitive verb) - 1 : To draw up or frame (a statement, proclamation, etc.); to put in writing. 2 : To make ready and put in shape for publication; to edit. "Back when we were in college, we used to lie in bed and regularly redact a mutual fantasy about how someday we could run a cafe or a hotel in some distant country..." -- Peter Gadol, 'Light at Dusk' Redact derives from Latin redactus, past participle of redigere, to drive back, from re-, red-, "again, back" + agere, "to put in motion, to drive."

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BELIZE

2008-09-21T07:43:00.000-07:00

Today we join all Belizeans all over the world in wishing them a Happy Independence Day.

Long Live Belize. Long Live the Belize People. Long Live freedom and Long Live Democrary.

The code for today is INDEPENDENCE MEANS FREEDOM AND FREEDOM EQUALS BELIZE.

Love Always,

Ms B

VOCABULARY OF THE DAY AND THE CODE!!!

2008-09-20T19:40:00.000-07:00

Dear Students,

This week's code is "Belizean Independence".

Today's Word "tmesis"
tmesis \TMEE-sis\ (noun) - In grammar and rhetoric, the separation of the parts of a compound word, now generally done for humorous effect; for example, "what place soever" instead of "whatsoever place," or "abso-bloody-lutely." "As an example of a tmesis, Franklin was wont to quote Shakespeare from Richard II, :If on the first, how heinous e'er it be, To win thy after-love I pardon thee." Tmesis is from Greek tmesis, "a cutting," from temnein, "to cut."

SEPTEMBER IS HERE!!!!!

2008-09-02T01:00:00.000-07:00

Like a light shining in the dark, CCC ACE offers direction and vision.

(Brenda A. Ysaguirre)

Here we are on the second day of September, 2008. Wow, how time flies bywhen you are having fun, or working hard, or learning new things.

A special welcome to all students of CCC ACE and CJC ACE. This school year we will be focusing on YOU, THE STUDENT, more than we ever did. The rason for this is that we want you all to stay in school nad we want you to beable to stand up and say proudly that you are a product of the finest evening division programme in Belize.

We will have to work together but that is not hard. We will carry the usual open house policy where all your concerns, queries and suggestions will be listened to.

Remember that these are the best years of your life - your school years! Enjoy it and work hard at doing the best you can and maybe even more.

COMO FUE INVENTADO EL PRIMER LAPIZ

2008-09-01T00:44:00.000-07:00

How did the earliest pencils come about?
Some time prior to 1665, an enormous deposit of graphite was discovered at the site of Seathwaite Fell near Borrowdale, Cumbria, England. The locals found that it was very useful for marking sheep. This particular deposit of graphite was extremely pure and solid, and it could easily be sawn into sticks. This was and remains the only large scale deposit of graphite ever found in this solid form.

DE QUE MATERIAL SE HACIA LAS VELAS ANTES?

2008-08-31T00:31:00.000-07:00

What Material Was Used To Make Early Candles?
In Rome, around the first century, candles were made out of tallow and the pith of rushes. The Egyptians and Cretans made the candle from beeswax, as early as 3000 BC. The early candle was made from various forms of natural fat, tallow, and wax. In the 18th century, spermaceti, oil produced by the sperm whale, was used to produce a superior candle. Late in the 18th century, colza oil and rapeseed oil came into use as much cheaper substitutes.

Cuando fue "La Invasion Britannica?"

2008-08-30T00:03:00.000-07:00

When was 'The British Invasion?'
The British Invasion was the term applied by the news media to the influx of rock and roll, beat and pop performers from the United Kingdom who became popular in the United States from 1964 to 1967. British artists who went to number one during this period were The Beatles, The Animals, The Dave Clark Five, Donovan, Herman's Hermits, The Kinks, Manfred Mann, The Rolling Stones, The Who, and The Yardbirds.

VOCABULARY OF THE DAY

2008-08-29T21:52:00.000-07:00

Today's Word "hauteur"
hauteur \haw-TUR; (h)oh-\ (noun) - Haughty manner, spirit, or bearing; haughtiness; arrogance. "She was unremarkable in every way save for the hauteur with which she regarded him." -- Karen Robards, 'Scandalous' Hauteur is from the French, from haut, "high," from Latin altus, "high." It is thus related to altitude.

VOCABULARY OF THE DAY

2008-08-28T21:23:00.000-07:00

Today's Word "autodidact"
autodidact \aw-toh-DY-dakt\ (noun) - One who is self-taught. "I'm an autodidact and a good one, because I'll kick my own (butt) if I don't learn, which is a sight to see with this leg brace." -- Dean Koontz, 'One Door Away from Heaven' Autodidact is from Greek autodidaktos, "self-taught," from auto-, "self" + didaktos, "taught," from didaskein, "to teach."

PLEASE READ THIS

2008-08-27T03:06:00.000-07:00

Early Drinking Predicts Alcohol Dependence
ST. LOUIS (UPI) -- An early-age onset of drinking is a strong predictor of later alcohol dependence, Washington University School of Medicine researchers in St. Louis said. "Previous work had found that about one in three individuals who reported having started drinking at ages 17 or younger also reported having been alcohol dependent, either currently or previously," explained Richard A. Grucza of Washington University School of Medicine said in a statement. "For people who reported that they started drinking at age 21 or older, that number is one in 10. In other words, individuals who begin drinking at 17 or younger are more than three times more likely to develop alcohol dependence than those who begin at age 21 or older." The researchers analyzed two large, national surveys -- the National Longitudinal Alcohol Epidemiologic Survey conducted in 1991 and 1992 and the National Epidemiological Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions conducted in 2001 and 2002. The findings, published in the August issue of Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research and available online, found women born during 1944 to1983 began drinking earlier than their predecessors, and that this earlier drinking might explain the higher rates of alcohol dependence.

FAREWELL, VANESSA, UNTIL WE MEET AGAIN

2008-08-26T03:32:00.000-07:00

IT IS WITH SORROW IN MY HEART AND TEARS IN MY EYES THAT I WRITE THIS BLOG TONIGHT.

VANESSA VERENSIA CASTILLO, AN EXEMPLARY STUDENT OF OUR SECOND YEAR LAST YEAR HAS SUCCUMBED TO CANCER. AFTER A BATTLE WITH THIS TERRIBLE DISEASE FOR OVER THREE YEARS, VANESSA HAS GONE TO MEET OUR CREATOR.

REST IN PEACE WITH THE ANGELS, DEAR VANESSA. YOU WILL BE REMEMBERED ALWAYS.

FOND MEMORIES FROM THE THIRD YEAR STUDENTS AND MYSELF.