Crosspost from US Department of Labor  http://www.dol.gov/summerjobs/:

According to the Digga Nikaya Buddhist scripture on morals for laypersons, guarding against evil is nearly as important as avoiding vice. Restraints include avoiding "Roaming the streets at improper times" for it is said:

He who roams is unprotected and unguarded; his wife and children are unprotected and unguarded; his property is unprotected and unguarded; he is suspected of evil deeds; he is subject to false rumors; he meets with many troubles. [1]

            Earth Day has passed, but Earth is less environmentally safe than ever, thanks to colossal disasters, such as the 2010 BP oil spill and 2011 Fukushima nuclear power plant ruptures. What is worse is that the U.S. mainstream media has become increasingly accepting of "news blackout" recommendations from the Obama administration. 

          Here's a way to investigate President Obama's track record over the past four years even if you are not a great Facebook user:

           Visit Politifact.com and click on the "Promises" tab. There you can find the "Obameter" which offers a summary of President Obama's Scorecard. To date, he's kept 175 (34%) of his promises, and compromised on 55 (11%) of them (45% total), while 146 (29%) are in the works. (I'd give him a B+ on the report card).

When the DREAM Act (aka. Development Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act)  first came to my attention last year, I felt ambivalent. For one thing, I was living in an urban ghetto and was subject to many negative impressions. Some emigrants can be so mean, rude, and disgusting, and yet they are willing to work with environmental toxins under onerous conditions. Others, for instance, as nurses, help save people's lives. So how is it that their dreams are left unfulfilled down to the next generation?

             The first time I heard the melodious 7-note bars wafting through the open window, my instincts informed me it was the ice-cream truck. But something didn't seem quite right. The truck lingered for a long time, it traveled each street, and there were several trucks doing the same business afternoons and evenings.

Nowadays, it appears as if women have reached parity with respect to men; women can enter any field of study at virtually any college of their choice. They have reproductive rights (only wicked women need to worry about abortions), and equal representation (provided they look like supermodels).

When the Senate passed Senate Resolution 201, it came as a pleasant surprise. I was eager to read about it, but only belatedly discovered that it has yet to pass in the House. In May 2011, Congresswoman Chu had first sponsored House Resolution 282 "Resolution Expressing Regret for the Chinese Exclusion Laws." Her House speech was nationally televised <http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/MorningHour598>.

According to various sources from Kavkaz Center "Russia Builds Up Its Gang Forces Against NATO in Syria," for instance, pre-emptive strikes against the terrorist Syrian regime may begin soon as President Obama continues the neoconservative foreign policy (see Nov. 28 Democracy Now interview with Glenn Greenwald: "Is Obama Fulfilling the Neocon Dream of Massive Regime Change in Muslim World?").

The 2011 International Exhibition is prepared by the Falun Dafa Artists Group (www.FalunArt.org). Artists including Xiaoping Chen, Xi Chiang, Kathleen Gillis, Yuan Li, Weixing Wang, Kunlun Zhang are among the many painters whose works are grouped around themes: Cultivation, Persecution, Resistance, Retribution, and Salvation.