Tool

A tool is any physical item that can be used to achieve a goal, especially if the item is not consumed in the process. Tool use by humans dates back millions of years, and other animals are also known to employ simple tools.

Tools that are used in particular fields or activities may have different designations such as "instrument", "utensil", "implement", "machine", "device," or "apparatus". The set of tools needed to achieve a goal is "equipment". The knowledge of constructing, obtaining and using tools is technology.

History

Anthropologists believe that the use of tools was an important step in the evolution of mankind. Because tools are used extensively by both humans and wild chimpanzees, it is widely assumed that the first routine use of tools took place prior to the divergence between the two species. These early tools, however, were likely made of perishable materials such as sticks, or consisted of unmodified stones that cannot be distinguished from other stones as tools.

Stone artifacts only date back to about 2.5 million years ago. However, a 2010 study suggests the hominin species Australopithecus afarensis ate meat by carving animal carcasses with stone implements. This finding pushes back the earliest known use of stone tools among hominins to about 3.4 million years ago.

Child Protective Services

Child Protective Services (CPS) is the name of a governmental agency in many states of the United States that responds to reports of child abuse or neglect. Some states use other names, often attempting to reflect more family-centered (as opposed to child-centered) practices, such as "Department of Children & Family Services" (DCFS). CPS is also known by the name of "Department of Social Services" (DSS) or simply "Social Services."

Laws and standards

Federal

U.S. federal laws that govern CPS agencies include:

History

In 1690, in what is now the Americas, there were criminal court cases involving child abuse. In 1692, states and municipalities identified care for abused and neglected children as the responsibility of local government and private institutions. In 1696, The Kingdom of England first used the legal principle of parens patriae, which gave the royal crown care of "charities, infants, idiots, and lunatics returned to the chancery." This principal of parens patriae has been identified as the statutory basis for U.S. governmental intervention in families' child rearing practices.

Arianna Huffington

Arianna Huffington (née Stasinopoúlou; born Αριάδνη-Άννα Στασινοπούλου, July 15, 1950) is a Greek American author, syndicated columnist, and occasional actress. She is the co-founder and editor-in-chief of The Huffington Post. She was a popular conservative commentator in the mid-1990s, after which, in the 1990s, she became a liberal. She is the former spouse of former Republican congressman Michael Huffington.

In 2003, she ran as an independent candidate for Governor in the California recall election.

In 2009, Huffington was named as number 12 in Forbes's first-ever list of the Most Influential Women In Media. She has also moved up to number 42 in The Guardian's Top 100 in Media List. As of 2014, she is listed as the 52nd most powerful woman in the world by Forbes.

In 2011, AOL acquired The Huffington Post for US$315 million and made Huffington President and Editor-in-chief of The Huffington Post Media Group, which included The Huffington Post and then-existing AOL properties such as AOL Music, Engadget, Patch Media, and StyleList.