Centrelink have asked this survey be distributed broadly across the disability sector. Centrelink would appreciate you completing the survey yourselves and sending it to on to other disability organisations within your own memberships.

The survey seeks information about overall satisfaction, as well as satisfaction with specific aspects of the working relationship including the working arrangements that are in place, the referrals, the helpfulness of staff, the information provided to organisations and the arrangements for meetings.

Centrelink will use the information both nationally and locally to identify opportunities to improve their interactions with disability organisations. They will also provide information about the results and how they were used.

Attached is a letter explaining the survey and the survey itself.

Please note that the survey needs to be returned to Centrelink’s National Office before 19 April 2006.

Details of how to return the survey are included in the letter and the survey.

Acknowledgement and thank you to Collette from AFDO for passing through this information.

The facts can’t be denied, women constitute almost 99 percent of cosmetology students, and men make up 95 percent of those in automotive classes. But is this really a discrimination problem?

Perhaps this “segregation” is a matter of individual choice. Blame it on basic biology if you will, but girls and boys generally have different interests. Beauty Shop Barbie is marketed towards young girls for a reason, and most boys would rather play with their Fisher Price tool shops.

It seems somewhat ridiculous to us to expect vocational school enrollment to be equally divided among the sexes. At the end of the day the National Women’s Law Center would do well to remember that the goal should be equal opportunity, not equal outcomes.

So, there is a way to combat that. If you really want to give yourself the best possible shot in running a successful, long term business, you have to plan. You’ve heard this before, surely…”if you fail to plan, you plan to fail.”

That phrase is so true. No matter what your business concept, no matter what stage of your plan you are up tom, you must have it written down, committed to paper. But don’t worry too much. It’s not set in concrete. You can make changes. But the thing is, you must be able to make changes based on fact and reality, not emotion and conception. This tutorial series will show you just how to do that. Business Planning need not be a task any more. It can be easy, fun and rewarding.

So let’s get started…

HOW TO LISTEN TO THE HOME BUSINESS MASTERY TUTORIALS

1. You’ll need to be online.

2. You must have “Real Audio” installed on your computer. You can download a “free” version of “Real Player 8 Basic” from the Real Audio Website

3. Then, simply click on the “Hear The Tutorial” link below, and enjoy.

When we are old, careless,
without men, we shall sit in hammocks
& eat from our laps. Dressed in flowered
cotton & battered hats, we shall laugh,
grow fresh salad in the yard & eat.
The cats will narrow their eyes at us.
We will stare back like neutered queens,
lording it, eating earth, sky & wild romaine.

When I hear the announcer say, “Come on down, you’re the next contestant on the Price is Right,” I immediately think of my grandmother. The Price is Right was her favorite show. In my mind’s eye, I see my beautiful grandmother’s devilish smirk, her twinkling brown eyes, and the color of her stark white hair. If I close my eyes, I can still see her waving her cane at me. I always smile and shake my head as I remember my grandmother’s energetic physical presence, outgoing character, and determined attitude.

This little sprite of a woman, she was barely five feet tall, had an energy level of a workhorse. Theresa Nardo was a tiny whirlwind of power like a fierce tornado, which spun rapidly. The woman hardly ever sat down, but was always bustling about doing dishes, working in her garden, cooking, and visiting the many friends that she had made in her long life. Even while sitting, her arthritic hands crocheted or mended clothes.

From the age of eight years old, when she came to America from Italy, she helped her community. Since she was fluent in three languages, she wrote letters for both her Italian and Finnish pals. My grandmother helped many of her friends from the “old country” come to America. She aided them by giving them a place to stay, teaching them English, and even showing many how to cook–it was very common in Italy to have a maid.

My grandmother’s admirable determination and deep spirituality was responsible for her incredible zest for life. Dr. Brown, her heart surgeon, once said, “The only thing that’s keeping Theresa alive is that pacemaker and pure stubbornness; her heart is completely deteriorated.” Her faith in God and love of her family strengthened her will. My Grandmother had strong beliefs, which helped her through many adversities. Being the oldest of ten children, Theresa Nardo learned determination at a young age. Her rough childhood and the Great Depression were her best teachers. Living through the harshest of times only strengthened her.

Telling stories was one of Grandma’s favorite pastimes. Her colorful stories were always action-packed, and the various circumstances boggled the mind. Some stories were told with a hint of humor, while others showed her flair for drama. Her English was perfect and her voice was strong like her personality, which kept her listeners enthralled. Her spunky attitude was clear in each story she told. Her tales varied from the time it snowed to the rooftops, to the time my Grandfather was shot at by “The Black Hand”- a term used to describe the Mafia early this century.

Despite her spunky and opinionated demeanor, Theresa Nardo’s love for her family and friends was always apparent. The staunch democrat was known to spout off about her distaste of government policies, and she outwardly chastised republican politicians. She never missed an election, voting on Election Day was a priority. If she disagreed with you, you would know it!

My grandmother never turned away from a debate. She always used her outspoken viewpoint, determination, and stubbornness to help others. Grandma was always quick to volunteer her help. Whether the cause was a church dinner, raising money for a sick member of the community, or taking the time to share her knowledge, my grandmother was a giving person who used her abilities to help her community.

This strong woman inspired her family, friends, and community. This explains why she is so fondly remembered. My grandmother was like a beautiful gemstone. The harsh elements of many years enhanced the jewel’s sparkle. Her incredible spirit is still the topic of conversation at family gatherings seventeen years after her death.

In her eighty years of life, she gave all of herself. Her children, grandchildren, and friends were thankful for the time they had shared with her. If Theresa Nardo hadn’t touched my life, I would be a very different person. I can relate to Jimmy Stewart’s revelation in It’s a Wonderful Life. He realized how differently things would have been if he had never existed. That is how I feel about the influence my grandmother had on my life. She helped mold me into the person that I am today.

When I lost Grandma, I felt as if I had lost a part of myself. The memory of Theresa Nardo lives on, not only in the minds of the many people who she loved, but also in their hearts and souls. I loved her colorful stories, which are now my family’s most treasured heirlooms. She was truly a legend in her own time. Oh, how I long to hear one of my grandma’s tales just one more time! This diverse woman’s charisma touched everyone who knew her. My grandmother’s untiring energy, determined character, and feisty attitude were a distinct part of her charm.

Heartbreak: The Political Memoir of a Feminist Militant, Dworkin’s latest work, is highly unlikely to alter that impression. This short volume, purged of its few references to recent political events, would easily be mistaken for a feminist broadside circa 1972. Not one for the linguistic legerdemain of the lit-crowd, Dworkin instead offers punchy, dime-store sentences chock-a-block with obscenities. One can picture graduate students perusing Heartbreak with bewildered consternation: hasn’t she ever read certified academic gurus like Lacan, Derrida, Irigaray?

Dworkin tells us that “You might say that in some sense I was fully formed in the sixth grade.” This observation offers more insight into Dworkin than she might care to admit. Dworkin’s prose, with its heavy peppering of expletives and a fascination with matters scatological, is indeed puerile. And Dworkin’s description of her career is equally sophomoric. She presents herself as the saintly champion of the downtrodden, fighting a lonely battle against the Forces of Evil.

It is not surprising, perhaps, that Dworkin’s interest in self-hagiography warps her understanding of gender relations in modern America. Indeed, Dworkin presents a very skewed, black-and-white portrait of women’s lives in the United States. To Dworkin, “Men are shits and take pride in it”; “good, civic-minded citizens” have “no empathy” for rape victims. (Dworkin clearly means “sympathy,” and not “empathy,” but no matter: the charge is ludicrously simple either way.) No one, in short, ever believes a woman—save Andrea Dworkin. In Dworkin’s life—at least as she presents it—men, with frighteningly few exceptions, have been nothing but deadbeats, exploiters, and rapists.

Ultimately, I went with the “selfish” choice: Do what makes you happy. Other women I know have reached the same conclusion. My roommate is a former chemistry major who decided she wanted to go into public interest law. I recently met a college woman who won thousands of dollars in scholarships for her genetic research. She decided after a while that she’d rather work with people than microscopes.

Freely made choices

Women, labor market researchers note, look for different things in careers than men. Women want flexibility, for instance, the opportunity to balance work with other parts of life and the chance to make a positive difference. Ninety percent of the queries about non-profit jobs on my college’s career-networking email list come from women. Many bright and talented women work in tech jobs, but if more women prefer fixing sick children’s bodies or fixing problems in society to fixing computers, so be it.

This choice—more than the fear that math and science are too tough for girls—creates the gender gap in tech jobs. After all, women aren’t wimps when it comes to difficult careers. According to the Association of American Medical Colleges, women make up about half of all incoming medical school classes. The American Bar Association reports that law schools have just about reached parity. Women earn two-thirds of all new psychology PhDs, over 40% of all new PhDs, and even just under 37% of science and engineering PhDs, according to the National Science Foundation. There’s nothing women can’t do—there are just some careers most women choose to avoid. If the Girl Scouts see those careers as more valuable than others, that’s their perspective alone.

In fact, if the Girl Scouts really want to reach gender parity in a field where more quality workers are urgently needed, they’d team up with the Boy Scouts and the Ad Council to run spots encouraging little boys to become elementary school teachers.

But I’m not betting any Thin Mints on that happening.

Chalk One up for the Sisterhood

Young women do need to take harder classes. When I attended the Indiana Academy for Science, Mathematics and Humanities in the mid-1990s, for instance, the high school shuffled seniors into one of four math tracks: regular calculus, AP Calculus (AB), AP Calculus (BC) or Multivariable Calculus/Linear Algebra. The regular calculus class was mostly female, the next level split, the third level mostly male until we came to the toughest class, which featured one girl—me. Since most students applied to selective colleges where advanced math was the norm, more girls could have benefited from the tougher classes. And too few students—male or female—took the AP Biology, Chemistry and Physics classes offered. At schools that don’t draw students specifically for math and science, the problem is even worse.

I took all the math and science I could, then went to college ready to do the same. I enrolled in math and organic chemistry, but also in writing and politics classes.

That’s when I discovered I liked writing and politics more.

…to be continued

How, then, can you attract these men? If you seem too aggressive you might scare them away. But you could never get started if you sit and wait for them to make a move! What should you do?

Social pheromones are extremely effective for attracting a man such as this and getting him interested in you QUICKLY. Social pheromone perfumes will help both of you relax, making it easier to share yourselves with one another. Just a bit of flirting from you can lead to romance in no time – and he may truly think he is the luckiest man in the world!

If you’re considering attracting a man using pheromones, do your research first. Pheromones can produce great, sometimes even astounding results, but this will only happen if you purchase quality products and know how to use them.

You need to test your pheromone out before meeting with the man you are hoping to attract. Go to places where people hang out after using a little. Look to see what reactions you get. If they don’t behave in a more friendly, open and flirtatious manner, use a bit more until this happens.

Where are pheromones available for sale? Many places, but be sure to purchase pheromones from a reputable supplier so you know you’ll get a quality, genuine product.

For more information on quality pheromones to attract a man, go to Human Euphoria Pheromones. This social pheromone will make him more receptive to you, and open the door to romance.

Pheromones use scent and science to rescue your relationships.

When moving into a nursing facility, most senior’s concerns lies in maintaining their dignity and freedom. Residents age from 65-100, although majority age in the low to mid 80′s. A nursing home located in a fine residential area, equipped with quality accommodations and good neighbors is a major benefit. Once the pressure of living alone have been lifted, residents have been known to “come alive” again and they are able to enjoy many activities that the nursing facliity offers.

Good research requires one to know the difference between independent retirement living and assisted living. Independent retirement living is really a type of living arrangement where people in residential apartments share common space. This is for those who need little assistance with daily tasks. The better quality facilities like this tend to provide daily meals and utilities, plus transportation and housekeeping. Activities are scheduled throughout the month and standby assistance is available. Massachusetts centers often mix independent living and assisted living options in one single facility. Though similar to independent living, assisted living is usually chosen by older adults who require some help with routine daily activities, but not 24-hour care.

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