8 State Mottos That I Love

Each state in the U.S. has a motto that captures the sentiments of the people at the time the state was created. Mottos can be found inscribed on coins, buildings and monuments. Here are 8 favorites that capture how I see America:

1. Live Free or Die—New Hampshire
2. Our Liberties We Prize and Our Rights We Will Maintain—Iowa
3. United We Stand, Divided We Fall—Kentucky
4. Liberty and Prosperity—New Jersey
5. While I breathe, I hope—South Carolina
6. Equal Rights—Wyoming
7. Justice to all—Washington, D.C.
8. The welfare of the people shall be the supreme law—Missouri

To learn the motto of each state, check out www.e-referencedesk.com

8 Ways To Support Breast Cancer Month

October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month (actually every month is breast cancer month), and there is an activity to suit each one of us in our support of breast cancer awareness, screenings, treatment and research opportunities. Check out these 8 that you may not be aware of:

1. Text KOMEN to 69866 for text message updates on breast cancer.
2. Learn the 8 breast cancer visual warning signs by clicking here.
3. Check out HBO Documentary, "The Education of Dee Dee Ricks" and learn of woman's mission to help uninsured cancer patients.
4. Speak Spanish? Check out Lazos Que Perduran, an initiative to encourage Spanish speaking women to get screened.
5. Talk to your employer to participate in the Susan G. Komen Promise Action Campaign where companies pledge what actions they will take to ensure their employees get screened.
6. Coordinate a Passionately Pink for the Cure Day in your office, school, or club.
7. Check out international destinations for the Komen Race for the Cure.
8. Watch 'Five" a Lifetime movie chronicling the impact of breast cancer on the lives of 5 women.
   

8 Free Online Learning Resources

1. JHSPH Open Courseware at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
2. Khan Academy
3. MIT Open Courseware at Massachusetts Institute of Technology
4. Learning Space at Open University
5. Stanford on iTunes U at Stanford University
6. Webcast.Berkeley at University of California, Berkeley
7. Open Yale Courses at Yale University
8. Oxford on iTunes U at University of Oxford

8 How-To-Guides For Activists

Movements.org is dedicated to providing resources for activists to help them be more efficient and effective.

Some of the resources available include a set of how-to-guides of best practices in digital technology. Check out these 8:

1. How To Raise Money on Facebook.



2. How To Get A SMS Short Code To Raise Money.



3. How To Remain Connected If Your Internet Gets Shut Off.



4. How To Stay Safe and Anonymous Online.



5. How To Collaborate Effectively and Form Coalitions.



6. How To Crowdsource Election Observation Using Ushahidi.



7. How To Make Sure Your Movement Stays Strong Over Time.



8. How To Make Sense of Google Analytics Reports.

Source: www.movements.org.

8 Interesting Lists From Mental Floss

I love Mental Floss magazine. Lots of interesting things to while the time away on a lazy Sunday afternoon. Check out a few lists from their website:

1. The London Riots and 7 Other Things Blamed on Social Media
2. The Stories Behind 6 Famous Slogans
3. 8 Amazing Garage Sale Finds
4. 15 Wonderful Words With No English Equivalent
5. 25 Words You Might Not Know Are Trademarked
6. 10 Questions From The U.S. Naturalization Test
7. 4 Crimes That Inspired Law & Order Episodes
8. 4 Wildly Successful Companies Started By Stay-At-Homes
   

Source: Mental Floss Magazine at www.mentalfloss.com

8 Things You Did Not Know About Edi Gathegi

1. Born in Kenya, raised in California.
2. Birthday is March 10, 1979.
3. Latest Movie Appearance—Armando Munoz (Darwin) in X-Men First Class.
4. Previous credits—Laurent, in the movie series Twilight.
5. Previous credits—Dr. Jeffrey Cole, in the television show House.
6. Attended Tish School of the Arts at New York University to study acting.
7. Won the Santa Barbara Independent Award for Best Supporting Actor in the play "A Maiden's Prayer".
8. His twitter handle is @iamedigathegi.



Sources: Tish School of the Arts and IMDb

8 Immigrant Contributions to the American Economy

From a report by the "Partnership for a New American Economy", comes these staggering numbers that show the positive impact of immigrants on the American economy. The report is based on membership on the 2010 Fortune 500 list.

1. 18% of companies had at least one immigrant founder.
2. 23% of companies had at least one founder who was the child of an immigrant.
3. 41% of companies were founded either by an immigrant or a child of an immigrant.
   
4. 20% of companies started between 1985 and 2010 were founded by immigrants.
   
5. 45% of high tech firms had a founder who was either an immigrant or a child of an immigrant.
6. 50% of medical equipment and device makers had a founder who was either an immigrant or a child of an immigrant.
7. 7 of the 10 most valuable brands in the world are American companies created by immigrants or children of immigrants. They include: Apple, Google, AT&T, Budweiser, IBM,Colgate, McDonald's and eBay.
8. Companies founded by immigrants or children of immigrants generated revenues of $4.2 trillion. If this were a country, it would have the 4th largest GDP in the world after USA, China and Japan.

Source: The "New American" Fortune 500—A report by the Partnership for a New American Economy.