Swami Balendu criticizes Baba Ramdev in an open letter to him

In one of his latest blog posts Swami Balendu, who describes himself as ‘former guru’, addresses Baba Ramdev, the popular Indian yoga teacher, business owner and politician. In the direct manner which prevails in his complete blog, Swami Balendu elaborates why he and, in his opinion, millions of Indian people, have doubts on who Baba Ramdev actually is and what his aims are.

“People don’t understand him anymore. Is he a Sanyasi ? A yoga teacher? Is he a businessman? Or is he a politician?” asks the author of the letter, Swami Balendu, who in his blog post gives examples of Ramdev’s contradictive behavior.

“There are people doubting his own financial situation, questioning his political direction and agenda and even asking for investigations into his past. He accuses the Congress party of corruption while he himself gives donations to the opposition party, the BJP. Publicly however he has nothing to do with that party. Why does he hide his support? Another loud question by many is: Are you still a Sanyasi, Baba Ramdev?”

Before Baba Ramdev’s planned protest on the Ramleela Ground in Delhi on the 23 rd March, Swami Balendu explains the Baba in detail how he himself has created such questions in people’s minds. Swami Balendus himself has, after more than three years of isolated meditation in a cave, left the life and profession of a guru. He explains this change with the feeling that ‘nobody is higher or lower than anybody else’. He is now a married businessman and additionally running children charity projects in Vrindavan , India .

This is not the first blog entry in his ‘online diary’ in which Swami Balendu questions the new and old gurus of India . In his outspoken manner he doesn’t mince matters when he writes about the magic tricks of Sathya Sai Baba, the escapades of the ‘Sex Swami’ Nithyananda, the sexual harassment and rape charges against Jagadguru Kripalu and his disciple Prakashananda or the strange religious habits of the devotees of ISKCON.

His letter to Baba Ramdev is the latest of such attempts to reveal more about hidden activities and sometimes even unlawful actions of India ‘s so-called religious leaders and gurus. When asked about his aim, Swami Balendu tells: ‘I hope when I write about them, it helps people to realize their own responsibilities and helps them go their own ways instead of blindly following a guru who is only seeking power and wealth using the pretext of religion and God!’

Via EPR Network
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uCertify’s Big Spring Sale – Save Upto 43%

uCertify, is offering truly green savings in honor of St. Patrick’s Day and Spring! Get any 3 IT certification test PrepKits for just $219.99.

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USElectionNews.org, Formerly 2012ElectionNews.com, Provides Voters With A Balanced View Of The Issues And Actions Taking Place On A Daily Basis

The popular U.S. election news website, 2012 Election News, has officially changed its name. Jillian Curtin, Editor-in-Chief of 2012ElectionNews.com has announced that the website has changed its name and URL to USElectionNews.org, to provide an accurate reflection of its ongoing focus.

“The response has been overwhelming,” said Curtin. “What started out as a simple 2012 election discussion has turned into a national conversation about our personal rights, needs and dreams.”

The name change is effective immediately and the site’s new URL is http://uselectionnews.org. What began as a forum for the U.S. presidential elections in August 2010 has evolved and taken on a life of its own. The site was originally created as a non-partisan informational venue for news about U.S. elections and candidates. The website also provided voters with a forum for the free exchange of ideas on issues of concern.

In less than a year, US Election News has grown from a hub for local, national and global election news to a go to website for information on the economy, the war on drugs, workers unions, employment, government spending, worker safety and natural disasters relateing to our government leaders. The site also addresses immigration, healthcare, terrorist activities, the emerging green energy industry, social issues and international relations as releated to United States and Presidentail elections.

The multi-media site features a wide range of audio, video and written content. The publication informs voters about topics of concern that affects them on a local and national level, along with issues in far reaching locations around the globe. US Election News disseminates information on a non-partisan basis from Republicans, Democrats, Independents and Tea Party members.

US Election News has its headquarters in Cartersville, Georgia. The publication is always seeking qualified journalists to provide news and information for a balanced view on local and global issues. The site recently launched its complimentary Facebook page that can be found at http://www.facebook.com/2012ElectionNews. The Facebook site welcomes visitors and invites them to engage in lively civil discourse and debate on topics both foreign and domestic.

US Election News is dedicated to providing voters with a balanced view of the issues and actions taking place on a daily basis that affects all facets of life in a global community. The site welcomes visitor interaction and communication for a better understanding of government and world events that shape the history of the world each day.

US Election News can be contacted by phone at 202-379-2821 or by email via the convenient online form. For more information, visit US Election News at http://uselectionnews.org.

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Benefits to Learning a Language Abroad

When planning out careers, many people choose to study a subject or path that coincides directly with what they aspire to be, such as an engineer, teacher or journalist. Children often grow up believing that as students, they should be focused solely on learning about what it is they have envisioned for themselves as careers. What people should not forget about, and what they should also value, is learning languages.

In today’s global economy and connected world, it is near imperative to speak at least two languages proficiently. Many individuals entering the job market or starting careers are prepared for the global marketplace and have studied to the point of fluency a couple or more languages. Many employers look to see whether a potential candidate is bilingual. While it might not rule some individuals out of certain jobs, those who boast bilingualism, or are trilingual or more, often see wage or salary boosts because of their language skills. Many people, however, find it difficult to learn a new language. For those in Europe, St George International is a language school that offers a variety of language courses.

Through St George International, students can have the opportunity to study foreign languages one-on-one with a tutor or in an academic class setting, all of which can take place in the European country where the language is spoken. This way, students can learn the language in an academic setting, and then go out in the city to practice what they are learning while on the street or with friends. This immersion reinforces what students are learning and gives them a full, well-rounded learning environment. All SGI teachers, across all European countries where they are based, are native speakers. With SGI, students can learn Spanish in Spain, French in France, Italian and Italy and German in Germany. Cities where St George International operates partner schools include Barcelona, Salamanca, Madrid, Malaga, Montpellier, Nice, Paris, Vichy, Florence, Milan, Rome, Berlin, Frankfurt and Munich. Students can take St Georges French courses or St Georges Spanish courses.

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Education Loan Source Launches TuitionFlexPLUS

Education Loan Source (ELS), the nation’s leader in education financing administration and services, is proud to announce the launch of the TuitionFlex PLUS SM financing program at Connecticut School of Broadcasting (CSB) campuses nationwide.

“We are pleased to be able to offer our students a new and viable loan program that meets their needs in the current environment,” said Jim Robinson, President of CSB. “After months of research, we finally met ELS who provided us with the opportunity to customize a ‘one stop’ solution for all of our twelve campuses. Through TuitionFlex PLUSSM , we now strike a perfect balance between offering an affordable and accessible payment plan to students while realizing improved cash flow to the school . We have used other loan programs in the past and have found that the ELS program fulfills our needs.”

Jim continued, “Another high priority for CSB was maintaining compliance with federal and state Truth-in-Lending disclosure requirements. As program administrator, ELS facilitates this as they customized the program to follow our school’s preferred internal process. In addition to delivering a great program, the customer service provided by ELS has been exceptional. I wholeheartedly recommend ELS to any school looking for an affordable financing solution. ”

Payment plans allow a student the option to make payments over a specified term rather than paying cash up front for an academic program. Traditional payment plans require the school to hold the note as a debt on their books, while receiving funds as the student makes payments. The challenge with these plans is balancing the need to keep costs low for student enrollment with the need to infuse operating capital into the school.

With TuitionFlex PLUS , schools establish unique rates and terms and can elect to implement a credit check to mitigate risk. As an additional option, they can sell a portion of their portfolio.

While other companies might provide partial support, ELS offers total support as program administrator from application through servicing. The program offers a branded online application process, electronic signature, customizable reporting, automated payment processing and flexible servicing repayment terms. ELS’ program is of particular assistance to schools concerned with 90/10 compliance.

According to Jennifer Wallace, VP Sales for ELS, “ CSB is a well known entity in the world of broadcast media.  Partnering with ELS gives them the opportunity to keep their focus on the very important business of educating students while leaving the financing to ELS. It’s been a pleasure to work alongside CSB to customize a program that meets the needs of their students and staff.”

For more information on the TuitionFlex PLUS program, call ELS at (888) 335-6261.

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Variety Is The Spice Of Language Learning

The Language in Group today claimed that the secret to the successful teaching of English as a foreign language was variety. The complex and varied demands of international students wishing to study English in the UK and Ireland today means that success must lie in catering for the many and varied objectives of students.

With more than 40 years’ experience of the changing face of language learning the directors of the Language in Group have seen the sector develop and mature. Along the way there has been much recognition of the innovative approaches the schools in the Group have adopted – including the accolade of being the first school to receive a British Council award for innovation in English language teaching. Whilst innovative approaches and excellence in teaching remain core goals the Language in Group today commented that what international students most needed was a variety of approaches to teaching English to meet their many and varied needs and goals. It is because there is no such thing as a typical international student that the language school’s provisions must be varied and multiple. Variety is the spice of language learning.

The range and approach of courses available within the Group has never been broader ranging from cultural experience holidays, where teaching may take place informally in a museum or day-trip out, to intensive exam-based courses, where more traditional classroom-based methods are used. Work-experience modules allow students to focus their language learning vocationally whilst IELTS courses help students prepare for further academic study. There are courses aimed specifically at the mature student and provision is made for those studying with families. The Group can now provide English language teaching courses for teachers looking to pick up on best practice.

Variety is also provided in the choice of where to study, and where to live whilst you study. The Language in Group offers schools based in a choice of three radically differing locations: London, Dublin or Totnes. The “variety is the spice” approach also includes the options open to students regarding where they live. Younger students may prefer the security of a homestay, whilst others may wish to rub shoulders with fellow students in hostels and apartments. Families can even have self-contained cottages.

The Language in Group is committed to providing a variety of courses, approaches, locations and accommodation to meet the increasingly complex needs, demands and goals of international students studying English. For them variety is the spice of language learning. Whether students study in a Language in Group London school, or one in Totnes or Dublin the same varied approach is offered. The Group provide language learning experiences that are as varied as students’ needs.

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Education in America: Homeschooling on the Rise

The homeschooling movement continues to gain momentum as home-educated students and graduates demonstrate success academically and socially.

Gray, TN, March 7, 2011, The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, LLC — Boasting an increase of 74% since 1999 and now in its fourth decade, the modern homeschooling movement is gaining followers at an astonishing rate. Homeschool, for the most part an unfamiliar term only thirty years ago when the movement began, has become a household word. U.S. educators from both public and private school arenas are very much aware of the movement and its impact, and today popular media frequently make mention of “homeschoolers,” from characters in CBS’s #1 show, NCIS, to homeschool grads who appear as contestants on shows such as Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? Homeschooling has firmly established itself as a mainstream education alternative.

Homeschoolers are here to stay, because homeschooling works:

• Homeschoolers (K–12) score an average 37 points above the national average on standardized achievement tests. (HSLDA, 2009)

• “Homeschool students possess higher ACT scores, grade point averages (GPAs) and graduation rates when compared to traditionally-educated students.” (Journal of College Admission, citing a 2010 survey of homeschoolers)

• Homeschool grads are “more likely to vote, volunteer for political campaigns, participate in boycotts or write letters to the editor. . . . Seventy-one percent of homeschool graduates participate in an ongoing community service activity compared to 37% of U.S. adults of similar ages.” (NHERI) Homeschoolers are definitely impacting the political scene, as evidenced not only by the recent election of Jaime Herrera, formerly a homeschooler, as a U.S. Representative (R-WA) but also by the enthusiastic participation of homeschooled students in grassroots organizations such as HSLDA’s Generation Joshua.

• Research conducted by multiple sources has found “the home educated to be developing as well or better socially, emotionally, and psychologically than institutionally schooled children and youth.” Homeschool graduates are excelling in their occupations, contributions to their communities’ welfare, and their own families.

The U.S. economy is benefiting too. For example, homeschooling families obviously are committed to equip their students to keep abreast of technological advancements, as statistics show that the use of computer technology in their families nearly tripled that of the average U.S. family, based on national norms. As homeschoolers graduate and enter the workforce, U.S. industries who hire these well-prepared, independent thinkers are thriving.

And there are even more winners—taxpayers benefit as well, because home educators receive no government funding, thus reducing the burden on taxpayers. “If there were 2 million homeschool students in the United States in 2009 and the direct per-pupil expenditure was $10,100, then the homeschool community saved American taxpayers $20.4 billion . . . .” (Dr. Brian Ray, NHERI).

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Flat Classroom Project Creates Globally Minded Students at Yew Chung International School of Beijing

Once a week, Coco Yu walks into her Year 4 classroom at Yew Chung International School of Beijing (YCIS Beijing), logs onto a computer and starts communicating with other children her age who are located in schools stretching from England to India.

Yu is one of dozens of students at YCIS Beijing who are participating in a global collaborative project that joins together primary students from around the world via the Internet and Web 2.0 technologies, including Wikispaces and Ning, an online service that allows members to create social networks.

The project is called Flat Classroom. It is part of an emerging trend in internationally aware schools, like YCIS Beijing, that embrace a holistic and full-rounded educational approach to work collaboratively with others around the world in order to create students who are competitive and globally-minded. One of the main goals of the project is to “flatten” or lower the classroom walls so that two or more classes are joined virtually to become one large classroom.

“In Flat Classroom, we work a lot with computers and we go to Wiki, and we type what we do in Beijing. Maybe we Skype, and we talk to other children around the world, for example, we have a school in Mumbai, a school in England and Mill Creek and the US,” Yu, who is 9years old, said.

YCIS Beijing teachers who take part in the program say they can immediately see the perceptions of their students about the world and their place in it change as a result of participation in the project, which incorporates themes and lesson plans from “The World is Flat,” a ground-breaking book authored by the New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman. Students also work collaboratively on projects with their peers located in different schools around the world. On February 21st at 8am, students used Skype to video chat with the primary students and parents at a US primary school who were attending their back-to-school night. It was an exciting link for both primary classes involved who exclaimed cheers when the video connection occurred, followed by a question and answer period that bounced back-and-forth between times zones.

“Of course, students have discovered similarities between themselves and other students located at the other participating schools,” said Primary Year 4 teacher, Heather Davis.

“They also note the differences as well. It is through these similarities and differences that our students have expressed the most learning. They find it fascinating that the same hobbies, food or entertainment enjoyed by them is enjoyed by other students as well. Conversely, they are intrigued by the holidays and traditions of different countries and are surprised when preconceived notions they had about other countries are challenged and clarified with reality.”

The Flat Classroom Project is incorporated mostly during IT time at YCIS Beijing but also crosses over into other subject areas, including English, math, history and Chinese. Students, for example, learn how to correspond in English with their counterparts in different countries or study the history of the countries in which their peers are living.

From February 25 – 27, a special Flat Classroom Conference will be held in Beijing. It will include students and educators discussing the future of education through the integration of technologies, including wikis, blogs, social networking and multi-media storytelling, into learning environments.

About Yew Chung International School Beijing
Located in the scenic Honglingjin Park in the heart of downtown Beijing, Yew Chung International School of Beijing celebrates 15 years of educating students of the city’s expatriate community. YCIS Beijing is a fully accredited school by CIS, NEASC and NCCT, and is part of the Yew Chung Education Foundation with over 5,000 students across campuses in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Chongqing, Qingdao and Silicon Valley (USA). Providing Beijing’s expatriate community a quality education across a broad spectrum ranging from early childhood to senior secondary education, the school offers a unique richness and diversity of both Eastern and Western cultures that equip students to be bilingual, academically competitive, caring and globally-minded individuals. For more information, visit www.ycis-bj.com.

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Foreign Language Courses Help Teens Assert Their Independence in a Healthy Way

Teenagers constantly seek independence from their parents. They assert themselves in the familial situation with new and strong opinions. Whether these opinions are about what is or is not cool to wear, how long they should be allowed to go out or which rules were made to be broken, teenagers want to show they aren’t children anymore.

The Royal College of Psychologists says it is normal for adolescents to want to prove that they can survive in the world and make their own decisions. It is common, they explain, for teenagers to have and express strong opinions contrary to those of their parents. This can be hard on parents who imagine that their now teenage daughter or son is still the loveable and pint-sized child of their memory. Unfortunately for attached parents, an essential part of adolescence is this very act of gaining independence.

For most the summer is an unstructured time. Sons and daughters run about town with their friends and hang around the house during holiday. This is a wasted opportunity because the summer can be a great way to foster independence by enrolling your child in courses or camps. Being away from home will allow them to feel as if they have control of their daily life but will also encourage them to participate in structured activities.

Foreign language study can be a great way to this. Here they will make new friends, live away from home (in a safe environment) and build their confidence through learning and exploring a new language and culture. Depending on the language your child wishes to speak, there are several course locations across Europe that could be right for him or her.

For summer camp Switzerland and France could be great places to learn French, while Germany is a great place for a teen to take German courses. When looking for courses and camp, it might be important to look for programmes that are not just language programmes but that also offer extracurricular activities. Perhaps they have courses on the local cuisine or offer sports and outdoor excursions as part of the camp. You can incorporate other interests you son or daughter might have this way.

Who knows, maybe allowing your child to attend French courses in France will mean that you have your own personal translator for holidays and, if they manage to squeeze in some French cooking courses, your own personal chef.

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English Students Prepare for Exams and Better Opportunities

It is no secret that the ability to understand and properly communicate in English is necessary for anyone who wants to succeed professionally, academically or, in many cases, even socially here in the UK. In fact, throughout the world, even in countries where English is not the main language, strong English skills are becoming more and more important. Nearly everyone wants to speak English well. But as a motivated person with goals, you probably have a busy schedule and a lot of things you need to do. Chances are that you don’t have time for anything else. Fortunately, one English language school here in London is helping students learn English and achieve their professional and academic goals at the same time.

At Malvern House, students can choose to study General English or take English courses that specifically focus on academic or professional goals. Malvern House English courses can help students prepare for UK university undergraduate or postgraduate degrees. They also offer 2 year Business Degrees and Tourism Degrees. The UK offers wonderful educational opportunities but obtaining a degree here often presents challenges. Malvern House offers the necessary support to help students achieve their academic and professional goals.

Malvern House also offers courses that help students prepare for a wide range of English language exams. The Malvern House language school in London offers preparation courses for the International English Language Testing System (IELTS), Certificate in Advanced English (CAE), Certificate of Proficiency in English (CPE), Preliminary English Test (PET) and the LCCI English for Business. Such courses are given at the school’s Bloomsbury Centre. Students enrolled in General English courses can easily move to the exam preparation courses as soon as they have reached the required level. Students who prepare for such exams are usually working toward getting a better job, being admitted to a university or obtaining a certificate of proof of their level of English.

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