Local Farmingdale News - At Your Fingertips

Hi All,

Farmingdale is known for many things: Grumman, Republic Aviation, the Farmingdale Public Library, Farmingdale State College (remember the Aggie school?), Mile-a-Minute Murphy, Bethpage State Park and much more. 

Which, of course, means there is plenty of history and news relating to Farmingdale.

For a timely, unbiased, current, interesting and well written site that covers the ins-and-outs of Farmingdale...check out the Farmingdale Patch.  Click on this link to learn a bit more about Patch.com - basically its the Patch FAQ. 

The Farmingdale Patch has a wide variety of sections relating to Farmingdale: including a section on Arts and Entertainment,  Business, Community Corner, Health and Fitness, Home/Garden, Jobs, Kids/Family, Politics/Government, Schools, Sports and Weather.

As you can see and read; the Farmingdale Patch has Farmingdale very well covered.

Enjoy the site and the news!

Regards,
Stu

The Political Spectrum

Hi All,

Politics is everywhere these days. It's in the news, on the internet and television.  The radio has news about politics and it changes on a daily basis!  How can you keep up with all those changes every day?   And occasionally you'll hear a pundit or an announcer or a 'talking-head' discuss the left-wing or the right-wing or a centreist....

Just what exactly do these terms mean you might ask?  Great question - and I've got a bunch of answers for you!

What we are really talking about here is the political spectrum which classifies different political positions...Wikipedia has an extensive article discussing what the various terms mean.

Click here for some information on the Left-Wing,  Click here for some information on the Right-Wing.  Click here for some information on the Center-Wing. 

Another website - called I Agree to See - has even more information on the meanings of the phrase 'political spectrum'.  

For some perspective as to what various members of the political spectrum believe in on certain issues, click on this link from People-Press.org.  The article is titled 'Beyond Red vs Blue: The Political Typology'

Finally, if you're not sure where you fall in this 'political spectrum', you can take this quiz from People-Press.org to find out where you political persuasion lies.

Enjoy the links and the lively political debates!

Regards,
Stu

Make a Change - Be the Change

Hi All,

Would you like to make a difference in the world and have your voice heard?  Yep - I thought so. Who doesn't want their voice heard?  Indeed - no one.

So...Change.org bills itself as 'the world's platform for change.  Millions of people come to Change.org to start and sign petitions that call for social change. Folks who sign up on Change.org start campaigns, mobilize supporters and work with decision makers (politicians, organizations, non-profits, etc) to help drive solutions.   Click on this link to learn more about Change.org.


Basically visitors to the site can start a petition, become a member of the site,  browse a list of petitions that he/she support on various topics and more.  Click on this link for the Change.org blog, this link will show you the impact of Change.org and this link goes to the Change.org webpage for Guides - aka how to use Change.org.

Enjoy the site and let's get busy!

Regards,
Stu

Ballotpedia.org: The Encyclopedia of American Politics

Hi All,

For those folks who are interested in politics I just learned about a website called Ballotpedia.  Click here to visit the site.  Advertised at the 'Encyclopedia of American Politics' the site has links to Elections (Ballot information, Elections Results, Election Analysis), Federal and State and Local Elections. Links to policy issues, links to 'Influencer's, and a section on Updates.

Visiting the Federal Politics link leads you to a map of the United States.  This part of the site includes Special elections to the 114th Congress, House of Representatives Elections in 2016, Senate Elections and the 2016 presidential election.

Other useful parts of the site is the Ballott Measures section.   Statewide measures, local ballott measures and unique reports can be found here. For example, local ballot measures discussed include marijuana, the minimum wage, fracking, law enforcement and more.

The 'Influencers' page is very, very insightful.  It includes 'influencers' on a national, state and local level.  Influencers are also organized by 'policy' for users to navigate more easily.

Whatever your political persuasion, there is something here for everybody on the site.  Enjoy Ballotpedia - its got unique information that is well organized, easy to find and interesting to read.

Regards,
Stu

All About Voting

Hi All,

All about voting for the upcoming Presidential election!!!

Where do you vote? Click on this link from the Nassau County website.
Where do I learn about how to register to vote, change address and more.

Finally, learn more about the electoral system by clicking on this link. 

To learn more about the current Presidential election, click on this link which goes to 270 To Win...(as in 270 electoral college votes to win the election.)

270ToWin.com has lots of interactive features for the budding political scientist - you can change the map to represent if one or another candidate will win/lose a particular state...it lets you change the 'outcome' of the vote in various states to test whether or not a candidate will get the necessary 270 electoral college votes to win the election...

Regards,
Stu

Politics and Facts

Hi All,

Now that election season is starting to kick into high-gear, readers might want to check the facts that various candidates are talking about.  Forthwith, two unbiased, useful, and easy-to-use sites to separate the wheat from the chaff when politicians are talking.

RealClearPolitics
The 'About' page on the RealClearPolitics page says that it is 'the trusted, non-partisan, convener in a content-rich media environment; thoughtfully curating the best coverage from every angle of the day's most critical issues. As a destination for elected officials, opinion leaders and engaged citizens, RealClearPolitics provides a platform, elevating the best-of-the-best in journalism.'

There are links to Polls, Election 2016, Video, Articles and much, much more. 

FactCheck.org
The 'About Us' page on the FactCheck.org page says that it is 'a nonpartisan, nonprofit 'consumer advocate' for voters that aims to reduce the level of deception and confusion in U.S. politics.  We monitor the factual accuracy of what is said by major U.S. political players in the form of TV ads, debates, speeches, interviews and news releases.  Our goal is to apply the best practices of both journalism and scholarship, and to increase public knowledge and understanding.'

There are links to Articles, Ask FactCheck, 2016 Elections, Viral Spiral, Archives and much, much more.  The link to 2016 Elections has a drop down menu with links to Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. 

Enjoy the sites and the information.

Regards,
Stu

Visual Capitalist

Hi All,

Looking for visual content (read: information and data) on business and financial topics?  Look no further than a new website called the Visual Capitalist.

As the Visual Capitalist says on their website, "Visual Capitalist is a new way to discover business opportunities and learn about investment trends.  The site is populated with exclusive infographics from our own design studio and curated visual content from around the web. Visual Capitalist was founded in 2011 under the belief that art, data, and storytelling can be combined in a manner that makes complex issues and processes more digestible. Today, we reach millions of people each year with our unique content."

The site has links to Markets, Technology, Energy, Mining, Green, Money, Politics and Miscellaneous topics. 

Charts and tables on the website are colorful, interactive, timely and very easy to understand.  For a perfect example of a useful chart click on this link entitled Visual Capitalist's 15 Top Infographics For 2015.

The list of the infographics includes a mix of infographics, data visualizations, and charts from 2015.

Enjoy the site!

Regards,
Stu

The First Hundred Days

Hi All,

The first hundred days....of school, of summer, of the new year and of a new administration. Its a time for bold plans, sweeping agendas and new, vibrant policies. Great stuff - and it makes for an interesting blog post.

Click on this link which comes from Wikipedia and discuss just exactly what the 'First hundred days' really means to a politician and his/her administration.  

For a bit of a scholarly summary of the 'First hundred days', click on this link from Houghton Mifflin.
Finally, click on this link from Time Magazine which discusses just exactly where the One Hundred Day Rule comes from ...

And....the venerable New York Times had a blog titled '100 Days' which, you guessed it, discussed the first hundred days of various US Presidents.  Click the link to follow to the site and blog!

Listed below are links to websites for various US Presidents' 'First Hundred Days'.

President Roosevelt's First Hundred Days
President Obama's First Hundred Days
President Clinton's First Hundred Days
President Reagan's First Hundred Days
President Truman's First Hundred Days 
President Bush's First Hundred Days 
President Carter's First Hundred Days 
President Johnson's First Hundred Days

Enjoy the links and information.

Regards,
Stu

Hi All,

You've probably hear about them on the radio or possibly in a newspaper or magazine article somewhere.   They do surveys, studies, research and more.  Who - or what organization - am I talking about?  Gallup - that's who.  

As their website says, 'Gallup delivers analytics (statistics) and advice to help leaders and organizations solve their most pressing problems. Combining more than 80 years of experience with its global reach, Gallup knows more about the attitudes and behaviors of employees, customers, students and citizens than any other organizations in the world.' 

Users can visit the website for free.  Of course their is a fee version which companies and organizations purchase for research.  Upon visiting the site users are faced with a window called 'Gallup Daily' which has all sorts of statistics....for example there is data on people engaged at work, payroll to population, economic confidence and more....

There are links to the latest news article on the left side of the screen.

The 'Topics' icon at the top of the page opens so users can choose areas of interest - for example there are options for the Americas, Asia-Pacific, Europe, Economy, Education, Politics and much more.

Upon clicking on a particular topic - I chose Education for this tutorial - users are brought to another page where you can sign up for the latest news via email, and read articles. 

Examples of articles include, 'Asking a Simple Question Can Change Everything For a Student', 'Don't Wait Until the End of the School Year to Recognize Teachers' and 'Six Things the Most Engaged Schools Do Differently'.

Users can use the Trends A-Z option which enables users to explore all Gallup trends in one place. For example there are options for topics as varied as Alcohol and Drinking, Country Ratings, Crime, Economy, Medicare, Religion and many more.

Gallup.com might be best used by high school and/or college students and adults looking for statistics and information behind various current events and popular topics.

Enjoy the site and the graphs and the charts and the data!

Regards,
Stu

Popurls...Genuine Aggregator

Hi All,

With today's access to information folks can get news 24x7x365 via tv, tablets, smartphones, internet, cable tv and other methods...

If you like news headlines, click on this link - which goes to Popurls - a genuine aggregator.  What the heck is it you ask?  Glad you asked!

Popurls is a news aggregator.  Basically it scours the web - and sites like Reddit, The Verge, Digg, Huffington Post, New York Times, Buzz Feed, Slashdot, Boingboing and many others.  It then presents the headlines - of which you, the reader, can click on.  Clicking on the various headlines takes you to the original text of the article on whichever site it is located.

News comes in various flavors: Tech, Geek, Design, Business, Entertainment, Sports and Politics. 

For more information about Popurls, click on this link; which comes from the sites' 'About Us' section.

Enjoy the news in this interesting format!

Regards,
Stu