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When you opt for a cheap travel to Europe, the city of Amsterdam should be your best choice. The city offers cheap relatively compared to most European cities but not sacrificing the quality of the trip.

The city…

Amsterdam is undoubtedly a beautiful city. No wander it is the fourth most visited cities in the region just after Paris, Rome, and London. Most of the population speaks either French or German or both. The people also can speak English and Dutch as well. The area is relatively flat. You cannot find slopes and hills unlike other European cities. If you want to roam Amsterdam by foot, it is very conducive for hiking. This would save you from the trouble of renting a car or hiring a taxicab to transport you within the city. And since Amsterdam has lots of sights to offer, hiking would be fill up the day while spending some time on different attractions the city has to offer.

If you don’t feel the idea of hiking, Amsterdam provides not only cheap but free transportation. White-bikes are located in abundance in the city. In fact there are over 700,000 bikes waiting for you. You can hop on one of these communal bikes at one place then drop it off on the other. They are stationed in different point of the city so you won’t get a hard to locate one.

Not into biking and hiking but still opting for cheap Amsterdam vacation? You can always ride any of the public transportation within the city. Amsterdam offers some of the best train, bus, and tram systems in Europe. They are cheap and the service is extremely good.

The attraction…

Amsterdam is lined with several museums and monuments often time just a shot away from one another. To be exact, Amsterdam has 42 museums and almost 7,000 monuments within its limits. And if you want to visit them without confusion, the city has prepared 7 waking routes, marked especially for you.

You can see the works of Hals, Vermeer, Rembrandt, and several other world-renowned artists in Amsterdam’s most famous museum- the Rijks museum. A Van Gogh admirer? Vincent Van Gogh has his own museum located near Rijks. For a more contemporary and modern pictures, paintings, and pottery, you can visit Stedelijk Museum of Modern Art. For a closer feel of Amsterdam during the 1600s, you can visit the Museum Willet-Holthuysen that is considered World Heritage Site by UNESCO.

When you visit during summer (July-August), expect to see bed of Tulips along with other Holland’s pride- narcissus, daffodils, and other flowers.

Canal attraction is superb. During summer, you can tour the city by boat. The city’s canal stretches up to 100KM giving you an alternative way to see the city. During winter, the same canal freezes and transforms into a sporting site where skating events take place.

The rates…

Amsterdam is not a typical European city where you have to spend so much to survive. It does not charge premium rates like any other European cities. You can stay at one of the hostels in Amsterdam under $70. Dining is also very affordable in the city. You can survive a decent meal for under $15. Transportation is also cheap. Tram pass could be purchase at around $5 for unlimited ride for the day.

Picturesque view and rich culture and history give every reason to travel to Amsterdam. And with prices are relatively cheap, you surely would enjoy your stay at Amsterdam.

There has been a strong trend recently towards on-line greeting cards, or e-cards, as they are more commonly referred to. The automatic assumption would then be that normal greeting cards, the traditional hallmark (bad pun intended) of birthdays, holidays, and graduations would be on the decline, but according to Hallmark Cards and American Greetings (by far and away the two largest producers of greeting cards in the United States) that is not the case, and both companies have actually continued to sell more cards the last few years than before.

According to recent numbers, there were literally billions of greeting cards bought last year. This is a staggering number, and seems to show two things: 1) e-cards would have to go an incredibly long way, indeed, to even make a dent in these greeting card giants, and 2) the e-card take over has not been as sudden or complete as many people assumed it would be. E-mail and e-cards promised to revolutionize the business of saying ,”I Love You,” but so far that sentiment has not caught on.

Even as more and more electronic greetings make their way to e-mail accounts all around the world, the old fashioned ink-on-paper greetings have held their ground–a fact many people attribute to the irreplaceable feeling of opening, and even saving, a physical card from an old friend, lover, or family member. Over the past few years, greeting card retail growth has been mostly from the sales of cards for everyday situations, and not, as commonly thought, for holidays. A study done by a committee put together by a conglamorate of greeting cards companies found one of the main reasons consumers head toward greeting cards rather than hashing out their feelings in a letter is because greeting cards “make it easy to express feelings” and “help people express them selves better than they can alone.”

Despite the boom of e-cards, more than 90% of U.S. households were part of a year that created over $7.5 billion dollars last year. A second thought on why greeting cards continue to do well is the tradition of saving Christmas cards, which for many people, is the “catch up on all this year’s news” for old friends and acquaintances. There are also graduations and birthdays, which often involve relatives giving money, which is very easy, and discretely done, through cards, and doesn’t show any signs of slowing soon.

Want to develop a direct communication line with your web site visitors without spamming? Develop an opt-in list with a large subscribers’ base. You will be able to send personalized emails to your subscribers who have expressed their willingness to receive informative as well as commercial offerings from you. However, you have to tread a fine line between annoying your visitors and making them volunteer the information you need. Knowing the right strategy and implementing it correctly will decide whether your offerings end up in spamboxes or inboxes. These seven steps will guide you in the right direction.

1. Decide what information you need to collect. Names and email addresses are the minimum. Do you need their home address, their gender, or their age group? Don’t collect information that you don’t have any plan to use. Don’t collect information for any anticipated future use. You may get plenty of chances to collect those information from a revised list of prospects. Keep the information collection to the absolute minimum.

2. Publish a privacy policy and provide a link at the point in the web page where you collect users’ information. Mention in bold letters that you don’t sell their emails to others and practice the same. Your opt-in list is very valuable and don’t sell it to others for a few bucks. Don’t violate the trust of your visitors and ruin your reputation.

3. Provide instant incentives for subscribing to your offerings. Free e-books, report, software, video tutorials, etc. that interest to your target audience are very effective incentives. If you have a paid member’s only area, you can provide time limited access to that section of your web site in exchange for their subscriptions.

4. Publish your past offerings in your website. Each offering should be in the form of a newsletter with quality contents that improve your readers’ quality of life. Conclude your contents with your commercials that explain the benefits of products or services you are selling.

5. Set up a discussion board (forum) at your site and make it available to registered members only. The discussion board should focus on your target market. By scanning the posts and their threads, you will be able to identify problems your visitors are trying to solve. Do your research and find solutions to those problems, organize them and publish those solutions your newsletter.

6. Use Co-registration. This will build your list rapidly in a short amount of time. What is co-registration? It refers to the practice of referring subscriptions or leads for memberships with another registration process. There are several ways of doing this.

When a visitor signs up for a free subscription or other service, give them the chance on the thank-you page to opt-in to another offer. Another way is give the visitors to a website the opportunity to sign up for another opt-in list. These do not need to be your thank-you pages or websites. You need to partner up with another web marketer.

The goal here is to find other website owners who you can joint venture with you to offer your newsletter along with theirs. Do a search via your favorite search engine and directories for similar offers and contact the people to set up your joint venture.

Two additional secrets to this co-registration process. First, make sure you offer more value than the other party involved in your joint venture. Second, offer your leads you get from this process more value than you usually offer by giving them a huge giveaway only available to them.

7. Use Squidoo, a social media website, to create lenses. A lens is a web page on any idea. Provide a RSS feed of your website on your lens. Embellish your lens with YouTube videos and Flickr photos related to your target market. Squidoo splits its revenue with lens creators (or lensmasters). Sign up to donate all your revenue from Squidoo lenses to a non-religious charity. Call for action by announcing that subscribers are helping a charity by joining your list.

UK travel insurance options, in addition to full year UK travel insurance coverage, are numerous: one-trip or multiple-trip designs, extended stay, business travel designs, several designed for family travel, and even three that’s focused on the needs of backpacking travelers.

If you are travelling in the UK, or a UK citizen travelling elsewhere, you have lots of options including full year travel insurance. While the occasional traveler such as a vacationer may not find full year travel insurance preferable to the one-trip options, business travelers or other frequent travelers may opt for full year travel insurance as the best time saving and money saving choice.

Instant quotes are available online. On three informative UK site your instant quote is given individually for your choice of single trip, annual (also known as multiple trip) or backpacker.

With about every plan lost luggage coverage can be included or deleted a la carte, since travelers may find that this protection is included in their homeowners’ owner. Full year UK travel insurance, as well as three or multiple trip options, also includes medical coverage while participating in most sports, although you sometimes must choose this option for the coverage.

Let’s take a look at the full year UK travel insurance quote.

For this quote you are asked to register and then choose destinations. The location choices for this full year UK travel insurance plan are for travel specific to the UK, travel within all of Europe, travel worldwide with the exception of the United States and the Caribbean, word travel that includes the U.S. and the Caribbean, or travel in Australia and/or New Zealand. they indicated that they’re a couple – 45 and 43 years of age – with no children under 19 accompanying us, that they’re travelling throughout all of Europe starting September 1st of 2005, and that they’re going to participate in winter sports.

The highest premium full year UK travel insurance product, offered an amazingly high ceiling on medical coverage – over $17 million -included compensation for any loss of limbs, dental coverage, mountain search and rescue and repatriation for medical emergency.

The quotes, converted from British pounds to U.S. dollars, ranged between $92 and $255, depending on the extent of coverage. At the low end of the full year UK travel insurance coverage they found lower ceilings on medical coverage. These quotes also excluded lost baggage coverage and some sports coverage. An accident during a round of golf, for example, was not included in this quote.

Childhood obesity is at alarming levels in this county. Children in the San Francisco Schools are no exception. Too much television and video games, and too little time spent playing outside has led to an epidemic of juvenile health issues. It sure doesn’t help that the San Francisco Schools have had to cut funding for physical education over the years. But the 2007-2008 school year does have something positive going for it. Several San Francisco Schools will provide fresh salad bars, whole grain options, and whole fruits and vegetable in their cafeterias.

Twenty six San Francisco Schools from elementary to high school will benefit from a half a million dollar grant from the mayor’s office and the Department of Children, Youth, and their families. This is a big deal. The fact that a school district has actually recognized the importance of nutrition in education is enormous. For the past few decades public education has acted as if the only aspect of learning we should worry about are test scores. The San Francisco Unified School District has been forced to slash the arts, physical education, and anything not seen to directly affect standardized tests.

How Does Nutrition Affect San Francisco Schools Students?

Teachers in the San Francisco Schools know that a child’s academic success lies in several factors: home environment, proper nutrition, and a good night sleep greatly impact a student’s ability to pay attention and retain information. The fast food generation currently attending the San Francisco Schools needs to be made aware of how nutrition choices will affect their health. But it’s a pretty safe bet that the San Francisco Schools don’t have much extra time to teach daily health classes. That’s OK, what they’re doing now might be even better.

Schools need to lead by example. Just think of the message that it sent to children to have soda in vending machines and options like chips, ice cream and fatty meals for lunch fare. The San Francisco Schools are setting an example that the rest of the nation needs to emulate. It’s high time that schools look at the messages they are sending to our children.

What Else Can the San Francisco Schools Do?

While healthier school lunches are a huge improvement to the San Francisco Schools, the reality is that every public school district in the country is struggling to succeed. The San Francisco Schools experimented with the salad bars with pilot programs in a few of the schools last year. Hopefully more San Francisco Schools will follow this example next year. It is more costly for the San Francisco Schools to provide this fresher fare than canned vegetables and mystery meat? I’m sure it is. But the San Francisco Schools will recoup the cost in children who are more likely to pay attention (maybe less ADD diagnoses), higher test scores, children who are less fussy, and who appreciate the taste of fresh foods.

There are just a small handful of states that do not require drivers to purchase car insurance and Iowa is one of those states. However, while Iowa may not require that you purchase car insurance, Iowa does require that you be able to prove financial responsibility in the event that you are involved in an accident.

In practice this is a fine line, and most Iowans choose the easy way out and purchase car insurance although there are several other, more torturous, methods of proving financial responsibility.

Also, if you finance an automobile then your lender will require that you purchase car insurance.

So in practice it is obvious that the majority of drivers are interesting in finding ways to save money and get discount car insurance here in Iowa.

Keeping your driving record clean is probably the single biggest thing you can do to keep your car insurance rates as low as possible. If you get a speeding ticket, a reckless driving citation, or any moving violation then you can count on your insurance premiums to begin climbing.

If you are convicted of Driving Under the Influence (DUI) or if you are convicted of Driving While Intoxicated (DWI) then your rates will skyrocket.

If you have multiple tickets or convictions, or several accidents or recent insurance claims, you may find that most companies will simply refuse to insure you and you will be forced to get insurance from a high-risk insurer – with rates that will be through the roof.

The lesson here is to simply drive safely, responsibly and legally at all times.

If you’re under age 25 then you already know that your car insurance is expensive. You can lower your rates somewhat by staying in school and maintaining at least a “B” grade point average. Doing this will qualify you for a Good Student Discount which could save you about 5% on your car insurance premium.

Older drivers, those 55 and over, may be able to take a special driver’s refresher course. Not every insurance company offers such a course, but if your company does – and you pass it – you can often save 10% or even more on your monthly premium.

If you only drive occasionally you should check with your agent about a low-mileage discount.

If you drive an older vehicle that has little or no Kelly Blue Book value then you are probably throwing your money away if you purchase collision or comprehensive insurance since your insurance company will only give you Blue Book value for your vehicle in any case.

Before purchasing a vehicle you should talk to your agent about the cost of insurance for the particular model you have your eye on – some car makes and models are far more expensive to insure than others so you can save a great deal each month simply by choosing the proper vehicle to begin with.

Choosing the right deductible can also reduce your monthly car insurance premium. Consider your deductible carefully as you will be asked to pay your deductible out of your own pocket in case of a claim, but the higher your deductible the lower your monthly insurance premium.

Finally it’s time for you to go online and find at least 3 different websites that allow you to make head-to-head comparisons of different car insurance policies from different insurance companies. Don’t just make comparisons on one site and think that you have found the best discount policy available. Since no one site compares all insurance companies you will need to fill out the forms on at least 3 different websites and then compare everything before you know which company will give you the best policy at the deepest discount price.

We live in the information age. We have grown so accustomed to information at the speed of light that the prospect of not having immediate access to countless numbers of facts and figures with the mere click of a few buttons for many of us is simply disconcerting. For this reason, it only makes sense that there are many people across the nation and around the world that are embracing the idea of online learning and educational opportunities with every ounce of enthusiasm they can muster.

At the same time there are equal numbers of people around the world who are trying desperately to hold on to traditional methods of dealing with certain things. In fact, some people actually still play solitaire with a deck of playing cards. For people who feel that the information age has left them behind to some degree the chances are quite good that online learning may not be the best available option for you.

Below you will find a few questions that can help you narrow down whether or not you would truly benefit by taking some of the many online courses that are being offered in today’s information age of learning.

1) Are you disciplined? This may seem like such an innocuous question because we would all like to think that we are disciplined to some degree. The problem is that when you are in the driver’s seat for your own education you need to have a little more than some small degree of discipline. You need to be able to meet deadlines, take the tests, and hold yourself responsible for actually learning the information that you need to learn in order to pass the course. There is no one to blame but yourself if you do not manage to do well in your online classes and some people simply do not like being in the drivers seat when it comes to motivating and pacing themselves and their learning practices.

2) How do you learn best? We all have different methods of learning for which we retain information better than others. Online courses are reading intensive. If you have difficulties retaining the information you read you may need to find an alternate learning method or seek solutions with the assistance of the course instructor before moving forward in an online learning environment.

3) Do you have a true desire to succeed? The answer to this question is quite important in determining whether or not online learning is in your best interest. There are many paths you can take in order to achieve the education and degree you desire. This is not the path of the masses, at least not yet. This type of learning, more than any other is easy to give up on through apathy. If you aren’t determined to do the assignments, to study the notes, and to really learn the material that is presented to you then you really do not need to waste your time or the instructor’s time by continually making up excuses. Online courses are largely self-paced but you do have a limited amount of time in which to learn the material before you need to move on. The teacher is responsible for providing you the information and material but you are responsible for everything that happens from that moment on. Are you ready for that responsibility?

Whether you are a first time college student or a professional that is returning to school after a long absence online learning can open new doors of opportunity for your learning pleasure. You must be willing to walk through those doors and take the information that is presented to you however in order to be successful. My sincere hope is that everyone reading this will carefully consider whether or not the lack of structure that many online courses provides is going to be conducive to your specific learning and educational needs before taking the plunge.

You do not have to go by the book to create tasty, easy, sociable food. Easy meal preparation is all about stripping cooking down to its bare essentials using little techniques and conveniences to make the most of your recipes. It is so simple: Skip the fuss and follow your heart.

Here are some tips to take the stress out of cooking, whether you are stirring up supper for your mate or hoping to impress the new in-laws:

Dinners-in-a-Bag

Make these dinner bags involving glorious aluminum foil and write on them,

25 minutes at 425 F”, for example, with a marker pen. Even though Jools didn’t like cooking, she never had a problem with cooking the bags. I just program the “Favorites Cycle, in your microwave . Here’s just one version, but feel free to vary the recipe with things like grated parsnip, smoked bacon or red wine.

Chicken Breasts Baked in a Bag

(Serves two)

2 7-ounce skinless chicken breasts

1 handful of dried porcini

9 ounces of mixed mushrooms, torn up

1 large wineglass of white wine

3 large pats of butter

1 handful of fresh thyme

2 cloves of garlic, peeled and sliced

Using wide aluminum foil, make your bag by placing two pieces on top of each other (about as big as two shoeboxes in length), folding three sides in and leaving one side open. Mix everything together in a bowl, including the chicken. Place in your bag, with all the wine, making sure you do not pierce the foil. Close up the final edge, making sure it is tightly sealed and secure on the sides, and slide it onto a roasting pan. Place the pan on a high heat for one minute to get the heat going, and then bake in the middle of a 425-degree oven for 25 minutes.

Bare-Bones Cooking Techniques

* If you invited friends to come round but they are running late, pop up to four plates of food in the separate warming oven. Your glorious food not only stays warm, but also keeps the kitchen smelling wonderful until they walk in the door.

* If your side dish is ready but you still have other things to cook, just slide the pot onto the middle of the cook top. The “warming zone” there acts like a fifth burner, keeping it warm and freeing up the other burners so you can finish cooking.

Whether one supported, or opposed the candidacy of Donald Trump, when he ran for the highest office, in our land, most realized, his campaign, was different, from most others, witnessed, in recent memory! Mr. Trump heavily relied on a populist, promise - based, approach, often blaming and complaining, while rarely, if ever, supplying potential voters, with details, and/ or solutions. He made many, somewhat, seemingly far - fetched promises, in areas, related, to significant issues, such as the economy, taxes, foreign policy, immigration, terrorism, safety, and, of course, the wall along our southern border (which he stated, Mexico would pay for). This article will attempt to briefly examine, review, and discuss, 5 of these promises, which, at least, to date, appear to be, broken ones.

1. Tax reform focused on middle - class tax cuts: Despite his constant statements, his tax reform, would focus on benefiting the middle - class, most economists, who have evaluated the legislation, approved, along partisan lines, benefited large corporations, and the wealthiest 1% of the population, to a far greater degree, than the rest of the population. Examining the details, which included doubling the standard deduction, were not nearly as beneficial, as one might believe, because it also eliminated the personal exemption! For example, for a family of four, while the standard deduction was raised from $12,000, to about $24,000, eliminating approximately $4100 per person ($16, 400), meant, fewer, not greater deductions to their taxable income. In addition, eliminating many deductions, and capping others, such as S.A.L.T., or State and Local Taxes, at $10,000, will potentially, raise taxes, to approximately 30% of the middle - class. In addition, the savings to most people expire in under a decade, while the corporate tax savings, are permanent.

2. What do you have to lose?: Remember when Mr. Trump, asked certain minority members, What do you have to lose?, meaning by voting for him? However, if we surveyed most minority Americans, today, they would tell you, the tone, and vitriol, of this President, has seemed regressive and hurtful!

3. Drain the swamp: Do you recall, when Trump, kept calling everyone else, names, and accusing them, of horrible motives, etc? His slogan was, Drain the swamp, but, we have witnessed, the greatest number of scandals, and potential ones, in his first year, than ever before? Rather than draining the swamp, it seems, he drained it, in order to make room, for more, and worse creatures!

4. Work constantly: He enjoyed accusing former President Obama, of constantly golfing, and stated, he wouldn't have time, to do so, because he would be so busy, working for us! However, rather than doing that, he has spent, over a quarter of his days, in office, golfing, at one of his resorts.

5. Better health care, at a lower cost: As was his pattern, he complained about the A.C.A., and proclaimed, he'd create a plan, which was so much better, and less expensive, only to, once in office, state, it was much more involved than he thought! The proposals have not improved coverage, even threatening health protection, to those with previously existing conditions, while promoting plans, which might be less costly, but, that's because they cover far less!

For some years now, certain Native American groups claiming their ways, their customs, and their beliefs have been taken over by white people. First, I quarrel with that label, Native American. Those early people who lived in what is now called the United States of America were not created here. They, like everyone else's families, immigrated to this land. The white man is accused of bringing disease, brutality, and war to the shores of the North American Continent. The concept of the Nobel Savage died many years ago. We are into a trend of making the First Settlers, as I prefer to call them, nearly saints. They, we are being led to believe, have the answers to a natural diet, the clues to understanding the natural world, direct connection to the Spirit World and a higher moral standard. Lest we forget, these First Settlers waged war against one another, raped and killed one another, and kidnapped members of each other's tribes. They were not and are not saints.

I am picking up complaints about cultural appropriation of tribal customs, beliefs, and mores by the white man. Sacred ceremonies and spiritual customs are being embraced by populations outside of the First Settlers creating a resentment. Copying, imitating, and mimicking are really the highest forms of flattery. So what's the real issue? Non-First People pretending to be First People, claiming powers and visions associated with sacred animals? Disagreement over what First Settlers' healers are to be called. The words shaman and shamanism are resented by some tribal members from the east coast to the west coast of the United States. Derogatory terms such as Plastic Shaman applied to non-First Settlers who have attempted to copy what they view as the best in those cultures to heal others. Maybe it's the pretense of doing the actual healing? As a white man who is a healer, I understand those feelings. I call myself shaman because people understand that word. Years ago automobile was the word; now it's car and everyone understands what is meant. Cute and pretty have so many uses they no longer have real meaning. Yet we understand the phrase, "pretty neat." How about the word love? Love my car, love my dog, love my shirt, love burgers and fries. The point being, we tend to use those words which convey current meaning. Cool is a classic example. When it is used it seldom refers to the weather.

Are not the names Sioux, Mohawk, Hopi, Creek, Lakota and the rest of the 568 tribes in the United States each viewing their customs and beliefs to be the one to follow? And isn't that divisive? With 50,000 Christian churches in the United States, each claiming their version is the right path to the kingdom of Heaven I wonder if they are not divisive. Whenever one group claims superiority over another we have discrimination, the rise of bigotry, and prejudice.

Is it not a sign of acceptance that various groups begin to assimilate each other's ways? Are not the First Settlers dressing in blue jeans, eating spaghetti, using a white man's invention to travel in? Should the black man, yellow man, or white man be disgruntled because people like and copy their food, music, and names? A big deal is made about having corn beef and cabbage for St. Patrick's Day even if one is not Irish and Catholic. I wonder if we can begin to accept the notion that each culture, no matter how big or small, has things to contribute to the whole community. Can we come to understand and to accept that there is but one race, the human race? Can we get by the really out of date notion of one is better than another? I surely hope so.

Many children go through difficulties as a result of poverty. This is especially the case in most third world countries in Africa, but similar poverty levels are rampant in different countries around the world. Reduced academic performance is directly linked to poverty irrespective of the level of poverty. It is basically very hard for children from poor backgrounds to achieve anything, especially when they lack access to good schools and proper success tools as far as education goes. The truth is that poverty directly affects education in more than one way.

Physical effects of poverty on education

When talking physical effects, diet and nutrition come into play. Poor children rarely get any dietary balance considering that food can be expensive especially the fresh options. The most such children can afford is cheap, fast food that does not add much to their health. This is considering that responsibilities can be a little overwhelming for the parents even when they hold multiple jobs. Bills come first before food and usually, the children are left to fend for themselves. With improper diets comes poor health meaning the children are prone to illnesses that usually will go untreated. With this regard, poor children miss school more.

Hungry or ill children have issues with concentration. They just have too many things going on in their minds, hence they are not as physically ready for class work as they should be. Most will not only miss out on class work, but also any physical activities meant to improve their mind and body wellbeing.

Cognitive effects of poverty on education

The cognitive levels of children from poor backgrounds are not as impressive. They tend to have short spans of attention and most are easily distracted making it hard for them to even monitor schoolwork quality effectively. Poor working memory and inability to connect cause and effects that are normal in regular children seem to also take center stage. It is usually due to environmental exposure to things such as lead found in old run-down buildings and homes. Those with untreated illnesses like ear infections can also end up with hearing loss making it even harder for them to concentrate or grasp what is being taught to them.

Generally speaking, poverty can take a toll on children such that they are stressed and lack the basics that make a difference. Their minds focus more on problems at home than on class work and even the education they can afford to access does not add much value to their lives because it lacks in most ways. Besides the physical and cognitive effects, therefore, such children face social-emotional challenges that not only affect their education but how they look at life in general. There is a great need to relieve poverty situations, especially as far as education goes so all children can enjoy learning a fairground to become the best they can be. Fortunately, there are lots of non-profit organizations coming to the aid of such children.

When the United States election campaign commenced Donald Trump was not expected to win. Everybody including the political pundits had forecast that the winner would be Hillary Clinton. However, it did not happen that way and the Dark Horse Donald Trump stormed and won the election. He did not have the popular vote when he became president but that is because of the convoluted system of votes in America. Political stalwarts made forecasts that Donald Trump would be impeached. They also said he was unfit to be the president of the United States of America. Water flows down the river and like the Amazon it doesn't flow back. Donald Trump has surprised many people by taking decisions which previous presidents had not touched with a pole.

Important decisions

The decisions that Donald Trump took are going to place Donald on a different footing than the earlier presidents. He has shown that he is a man made of a different metal as he has taken decisions that nobody else took. To start with he took the historic decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. This was a momentous decision and now orders have been passed to shift the US Embassy to Jerusalem. Earlier American presidents all would put this shifting in their election manifesto but when it came to brass tacks developed cold feet and never carried out the shifting. One reason was they were scared to antagonize the Muslim world and the Arabs in particular. Donald, as I have said, taking the decision and though he angered the Arab world, he has not changed it. This shows that Donald has honored the pledge that he made during the election campaign

Another important point which needs to be mentioned here is that he has stopped the free lunches for the Palestine Arabs. The Palestine leader Mohammad Abbas was using American funds and paying them to the next of kin of terrorist killed in combat. Donald's put a stop to and now there are no free lunches. He hs said that no aid from the USA would be coming in case it was being paid to terrorists. This is another major step which the previous American presidents were scared to take. This is a lesson to India where something similar is happening in Kashmir.

Terrorism and Islam

Another major decision Donald Trump took is identifying the source of terror. Terrorism, as we know, is the biggest danger in the globe today. Donald Trump has been the first man to identify Islam as a source of terror. He has repeatedly used the word "Islamic terrorism". This word was an anathema to the previous American presidents, who were scared to use the word and identify terrorism with Islam. No such inhibition with Trump, as he has clearly identified Islam as a source of terror. He has followed up with the travel ban on Muslims from a few countries associated with terrorism to travel to the USA. This ban was challenged in court but now has been upheld by the US Supreme Court. Donald Trump has done a great service to mankind by identifying the terror groups as drawing sustenance from Islamic scriptures. Obviously, this is not to the liking of the Arabs and the Muslims but it is only a man like Trump who will call a spade a spade

Trump also identified Pakistan as a source of terror. This is something which was overlooked by American presidents, even when the Pakistan army had given shelter to the notorious terrorist Osama Bin Laden for close to 6 years. Trump has accepted that Pakistan needs to do much more to fight terrorism

One of the most far-reaching decisions of Trump is his slated meeting with the Korean Dictator Kim Jong. No American President had met any North Korean leader for the simple reason they could not look beyond their nose. Trump has broken the shackles and even earlier he had said that he would have no objection to meeting Kim Jong in the right circumstances

Great president

All this happens just after one year of Donald Trump rule. There are many more points which will not be part of this article which puts Trump as something apart from earlier American presidents. There is no doubt in case he completes his full term as the President of the USA he may very well be considered a great president for giving a new direction to the world, more for identifying Islam as a source of terror.

I. Background

For over 50 years, the Gardiner Expressway is a highway that has served automobile commuters in and out of Toronto. However, the elevated portion of the highway downtown has sparked considerable debate on whether to demolish it or whether to maintain and repair it. On one hand, the highway acts as an informal barrier between the waterfront and the rest of downtown Toronto, hindering potential development in the vicinity. On the other hand, the Gardiner Expressway is a vital transportation link that connects other suburbs and surrounding areas into the downtown area and with traffic congestion already a problem in Toronto, removing the Gardiner may negatively affect travel in the city. This report will clarify the various arguments and proposals.

In 2009, an environmental assessment was undertaken to decide the best option on the future of the Gardiner Expressway. The EA included four main options (City of Toronto, Waterfront Toronto, Dillon Consulting Limited, Perkins+Will, Morrison Hershfield, 2009). The first option would simply be to keep the elevated highway the way it is. That is, keeping the elevated highway and maintaining the infrastructure in a "state of good repair." The second option would demolish the elevated portion downtown and replace it with a major arterial road at-grade. A third option would "replace" the Gardiner by removing the existing structure and move the highway either underground or over the CN Rail line. The fourth option keeps the existing structure, but improving it by adding environmentally-friendly features and improving pedestrian access around the highway.

The attitude towards highways in Toronto is a factor to consider. Throughout recent history in Toronto, residents have opposed highway projects since the 1970s. The most notable cancellation is the Spadina Expressway, which was planned to be built from the present Allen Road Expressway down south towards the Gardiner. The cancellation marked the end of highway construction in Toronto (Robinson, 2011, page 320). It was a time when urban planning in Toronto changed from Rational Comprehensive Planning where planners were in full control, to an era where citizens had an increasing influential voice because modernist planning was considered "anti-democratic (Sandercock, 1998, p. 170)." This negative attitude towards highway development in Toronto will likely contribute to favouritism towards removing the Gardiner Expressway in downtown Toronto.

On the contrary, Toronto's road network is also something to consider. Along with the Don Valley Parkway, the Gardiner Expressway is one of only two highways that connect to the downtown core. The Spadina Expressway and the Scarborough Expressway were meant to support a unifying highway network connecting the downtown area with the outer suburbs. Both were cancelled due to opposition from residents in Toronto. However, since those proposed highways have been scrapped, both the Gardiner and Don Valley Parkway are taking in vehicle capacity far beyond their intended usage, receiving vehicle traffic meant for the expressways that were cancelled. Therefore, by removing the elevated portion of the Gardiner Expressway, it will put more pressure on Toronto's already-congested road network. Also, the proposed section of the Gardiner to be removed connects directly to the Don Valley Parkway, and by removing this portion, it would remove an important highway connection in the city.

II. Problems and Issues

The removal of the Gardiner Expressway downtown is controversial today because of the highway's decaying state and rising maintenance costs. For several months, chunks of concrete from the highway have fallen down, some even landing on vehicles. This has proposed a dangerous scenario for motorists and pedestrians walking and driving below the elevated Gardiner. Choosing to either fully restoring and repairing the Gardiner Expressway, or choosing to demolish it altogether would decrease costs, compared to short-term repairs.

III. Context and Perspectives

Removing the elevated portion of Gardiner Expressway is a very polarizing issue, with those supporting and opposing the demolition. Organizations such as Toronto Waterfront Viaduct and Waterfront Toronto support demolishing the Gardiner. An argument is that the highway is a hindrance to residential development that potentially could be built on the land the highway is currently occupying. For example, those lands may also be used for "use" value such as public parks and spaces (Young, 2010, p. 32). Population and developmental growth in Toronto has been increasing, especially in the downtown core where many residential condominiums are being constructed. Removing the Gardiner downtown can bring economic benefits to the city from subsequent development and tourist sites.

There is no formal group that opposes removing the Gardiner Expressway in downtown. However, there are some city councillors and members of provincial parliament that do not support removing it, mainly for road transportation issues. Again, the proposed section connects directly with the Don Valley Parkway, and removing an important highway connection can create more traffic congestion as a result. Therefore, traveling in and out of the downtown core with an automobile would be less convenient and slower.

What hasn't been mentioned in previous reports is the fact that removing the Gardiner can negatively affect other modes of transportation. While it's obvious that removing the Gardiner would likely create traffic congestion initially, the effects on public transit have been neglected and overlooked. When the city of London, England initiated the Congestion Charge Zone, many former road users took public transit to downtown instead because they could not afford the extra costs of driving downtown. Subsequently, bus ridership in London increased by 18 percent in the first year that the congestion charge was implemented (Santos, 2008, p. 192). The same results could happen in Toronto as well, where removing the Gardiner will detract road users to take public transit instead. While this is beneficial to city policy of increasing public transit ridership, the question is if our transit infrastructure can handle the sudden influx, since the Toronto Transit Commission system is already operating at high ridership levels.

IV. Recommended Course of Action

The recommended course of action is to demolish the elevated portion of the Gardiner Expressway and merge it with Lake Shore Boulevard. However, Toronto's public transit system must first be able to handle the new passengers that would likely switch to this mode of transportation, either by increasing service or by creating new rapid transit lines.

The reasons for removing the elevated portion of the Gardiner Expressway are far too beneficial to ignore. With the city already handling a large backlog of road repairs, it would likely become too cost-prohibitive in the long-term to maintain and repair the elevated expressway, rather than removing the structure altogether and replacing it with an at-grade arterial road. It's also clear that many citizens in the downtown area of Toronto oppose highway development or maintenance, as witnessed with the cancellation of the Spadina Expressway. The waterfront is becoming an attractive new area. The Distillery District and the Harbourfront Centre are examples of this. They both have attracted developers, tourists and residents alike, bringing economic growth to the city.

The third and fourth options are not alternatives that would be beneficial. The third option of replacing the highway and building a new one over the CN rail line or underground, would be just as expensive and costly to build and maintain as the existing elevated expressway. In Boston, the "Big Dig" was a large highway project that included burying the Central Artery highway, building a bridge over the Charles River and a tunnel connecting to the airport. Altogether, the Big Dig is expected to cost $22 billion, which has put the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority into financial burden (Haynes & Whipples, 2009, p. 73). This shows that it would be far too costly to replace the highway or bury it underground. With the fourth option, "greening" the highway would not solve the problems it is currently facing, which is becoming a barrier between downtown and the waterfront, and a safety hazard due to crumbling and aging infrastructure.

Subsequent traffic congestion may increase around the waterfront temporarily. However, a study was done in 1998 by Phil Goodwin, Sally Cairns and Carmen Hass-Klau on the phenomenon on "disappearing traffic." They concluded that "taking away roadspace from general traffic can cause overall traffic levels to reduce (Goodwin, Cairns, Atkins, 2002, p. 16)." While this phenomenon is still highly debated and contested, it's likely a similar situation would likely occur if the Gardiner is removed downtown, where drivers will find alternative methods of travel, such as public transit or traveling at a different time of day.

Several highway removal projects in other cities have been completed with success. In San Francisco, the Embarcadero Freeway was demolished due to damage from the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. Initially, there was concern on traffic congestion if the freeway was removed, but not only has traffic accustomed, the city has been able to beautify the waterfront as a major tourist destination. This shows that highway removal can benefit high demand, high development potential areas. Our city can mimic those positive results, which is why this report recommends removing the elevated portion of the Gardiner Expressway downtown.

References

Atkins, S., Cairns, S., & Goodwin, P. (2002). Disappearing traffic? The story so far. Municipal Engineer, 151(1), 13-22.

City of Toronto, Dillon Consulting Limited, Hershfield, M., Perkins+Will, Waterfront Toronto. (2009). Gardiner Expressway and Lake Shore Boulevard Reconfiguration (EA Terms of Reference). Toronto, Ontario.

Goodwin, P., Hass-Klau, C., & Cairns, S. (1998). Traffic Impact of Highway Capacity Reductions: Assessment of the Evidence. London: Landor Publishing.

Haynes, W., & Whipple, A. (2009). Transportation megaprojects: comparing project management and oversight approaches: three recent, well-known initiatives--Boston's Big Dig, Denver's International Airport, and Colorado's T-REX--vary in methods and success. The Public Manager, 38(2), 72-77.

Robinson, D. (2011). Modernism at a Crossroad: The Spadina Expressway Controversy in Toronto, Ontario ca. 1960-1971. Canadian Historical Review, 93(2), 295-322.

Sandercock, L. (1998). The death of modernist planning: Radical praxis for a postmodern age. In M. Douglass & J. Friedmann (Eds.), Cities for citizens: Planning and the rise of civil society in a global age (pp. 163-184). Chichester, UK: John Wiley & Sons.

For better, or worse, the public often makes many decisions, about the quality of their elected officials, based on their perceptions, and some, rather - challenging, items, to understand, and accurately consider and evaluate! How one's actions, and words/ rhetoric, are considered and evaluated, are essential components, of a public official's OPTICS. These individuals should be aware, and consider, what their actions, appear to be, to others, and whether it instills public confidence, and trust, or, quite the opposite! With that in mind, this article will attempt to briefly consider, identify, and discuss, using the mnemonic approach, some of the key considerations, concepts, and items, a quality leader, should consistently, take into consideration!

1. Options; opportunities; opinions; offensive/ offend: We need leaders, who are willing to consider, with an open - mind, various, viable, options and alternatives, and look for the finest opportunities, focused on quality service and representation, for the common good! While one should be willing to articulate his opinions, in a well - directed, focused way, he must realize, the power and meaning, of his opinions and leadership, while avoiding any action, which others, might consider, offensive. Our present, President, Donald Trump, seems to not take these optics, into consideration, and often articulates a message, or proceeds, in a way, which offends others!

2. Priorities; planning; perceptions: When President Trump, articulates a message, which communicates priorities, which do not favor the common good, and seem, to focus on, the wealthiest, at the expense of the middle - class, many have perceptions, of a leader, who doesn't care about them, or protecting the sustainable future, for generations, which follow. Whether he focuses on planning, or wings - it, he often appears, to avoid in - depth, evaluations and considerations, which have an impact on many constituents, in a less than stellar manner!

3. Tendencies; timely: Whether he deserves it, or not, Mr. Trump appears to have tendencies, where he blames and complains, rather than proceeds with viable, well - considered solutions! He also complains about the past, when many are focused on timely actions, and needs!

4. Intentions; integrity; image: Public officials are often judged, by how their attentions, are perceived! One's public image, is, often, judged by whether the leader, proceeds with integrity, or is perceived, as being a liar!

5. Character; clarity: One's character often directs, how he is perceived, by the American public! Political leaders must avoid confusing messages, but, rather, must focus on the utmost degree of clarity, and honesty!

6. Service; sustainable solutions: How does it look, when someone seems focused on his self - interest, and personal/ political agenda, rather the providing the service, constituents need, and deserve? It is incumbent upon, these individuals, to avoid, populist rhetoric and promises, and implement, well - considered, sustainable solutions!

The United States of America, and many of its, potentially, best and finest, made the ultimate commitment, fighting in wars, to ensure the world avoided repression, persecution, and protecting the rights, liberties, and freedoms, we have come to expect! Our Constitution, including the Bill of Rights, provides us, with the rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of justice, and, yet, it appears, there are many American citizens and leaders, who are focused on their self - interest, personal and/ or political agenda, rather than protecting all of our freedoms, as opposed to solely, those we like! Unfortunately, especially, very recently, we seem to be observing, polarization, over the common good, and an escalation of vitriol, and apparently, prejudicial rhetoric, rather than protecting, freedoms and liberties, for all our citizens! Let's review, just, a few, examples, of some of the warning signs, that we should avoid overlooking, and/ or ignoring.

1. Freedom of the Press: Simply because there is a press report, which opposes, a specific position, statement made, or program, of any political leader, does not make it, fake news. Unfortunately, President Trump, in a seemingly, politically motivated attempt, to stir - up. his core supporters and followers, uses the slogan, Fake News, every time, any report is opposed to him, etc. Although there has been an influx of false reports, most have been, online, and, especially, in Social Media. When one media outlet, consistently, reports news, differently than nearly all the others, and some citizens, only watch reports, they agree with, it is not, a good sign, and/ or omen, for America's future!

2. Immigration: When did America transform from, the Melting Pot, to the vestibule of, hatred, bigotry, prejudice, and bias, pitting one ethnic group, against others? Nearly every American comes from a heritage of immigration, yet, we are experiencing a period, of, never - before, witnessed, hatred and bigotry!

3. Separation of Church and State: While our citizens are guaranteed, the freedom to practice, their religion, there is no national religion, in the United States. When so many politicians, articulate messages, using their interpretation of the Bible, as a defense against any of our guaranteed, rights and freedoms, America loses!

4. Women's rights: The Supreme Court is supposed to consider laws, in terms of their Constitutional adherence, etc, rather than being political. The only litmus - test, for a Justice, should be the legal scholarship and ethics, and not, their personal political position, and/ or agenda! Our law gives a woman, the Right - to - Choose, so, the individual, can choose, what's best for them!