Clean Air Issues In The West Coast

Clean air is life. Medicine has taught us so much about it. Remember the ABC’s of basic life support. When faced with a medical emergency, check the ABCs first before doing any life-saving measures where A stands for airway, B for breathing and C for circulation. A few minutes without air and your brain loses oxygen that is essential for living. You will soon be declared brain dead and you might go into a coma. That is just how crucial air is in living.

And breathing clean air is just as important as being able to breathe. Constant exposure to pollution damages important body organs and systems and puts you at higher risk of certain medical conditions like asthma, emphysema and even lung cancer. However, breathing clean air is becoming more impossible in a modern world dominated by technology. Fumes from vehicles, smoke from vices like smoking and polluted air emitted by factories and other manufacturing plants contribute to this major issue. It is likewise a common problem faced by a progressive nation like America.

A combination of unfortunate topography, a large population, and the realities of worsening climate change makes California cities some of the worst places to breathe air in America.

“No state has done more to address air pollution than California has done over the last 50 years. But they also have the biggest problems,” says Paul Billings, the senior vice president of advocacy at the American Lung Association, which issued its latest State of the Air report on Tuesday (April 19).

Eight of the 10 cities with the highest year-round concentration of particulate matter—or PM2.5—between 2013 and 2015 were in California, according to the report. The state is also home to seven of the 10 American cities with the worst ozone pollution. Both PM2.5 and ozone are linked to an long list of health problems, including asthma, lung cancer, premature death, and developmental delays in children.

(Via: https://qz.com/963089/california-is-home-to-eight-of-the-10-cities-in-america-where-air-pollution-is-worst/)

California is home to the worst air pollution in the US and factors like spikes in particulate matters were all taken into consideration before declaring Bakersfield, California the grand winner in all of America. And it is an award they can’t be proud of. Imagine living in this smog-filled city and inhaling this toxic air on a daily basis.

State air-quality officials insist that the amendment won’t hinder efforts to ensure the cleanest, least-polluting trucks are on the road, but environmentalists and regional air quality regulators disagree. The stakes are particularly high in Southern California, where diesel-fueled big rigs are the top source of smog-forming emissions and pose a health risk to communities along major highways. In the coming years, the South Coast Air Quality Management District is expected to consider rules that would require companies to switch to zero- or near-zero-emission trucks, as well as rules that would require cleaner trucks serving the region’s ports, warehouses and railyards. AQMD officials warn that the amendment — even after it was tweaked ostensibly to address environmentalists’ concerns — will likely lead to lawsuits if Southern California and other regions try to enact new rules that affect trucks.

Some in Sacramento say environmentalists and health advocates should stop complaining. Nobody gets everything they want in a political compromise, and in this case environmentalists would get more dollars for public transit, bike lanes and other infrastructure investments to help get people out of cars. But a compromise shouldn’t undermine a top state priority, cleaner air. Brown and legislative leaders have repeatedly pledged to block any attempt by President Trump to roll back California’s ambitious climate change agenda. Why, then, would they sign off on an amendment designed to stymie Southern California’s efforts to clear the air?

(Via: http://www.latimes.com/opinion/editorials/la-ed-transportation-funding-bill-20170406-story.html)

California is trying its best to enforce reforms and improve the air quality in the state. The health of the people and the state’s image has been suffering for years but little by little, they are making progress for the better. Yet despite the progress California has made in improving air quality in this part of America, they still continue to face major obstacles, especially that major budget cuts imposed by the Trump administration include the US Environmental Protection Agency. The state will have a hard time pushing for positive reforms without enough support and funding from the federal government but we can expect the sunny state of California will find a way to improve living and health conditions in the state at all cost.

The blog post Clean Air Issues In The West Coast was originally seen on The SEMP.us Blog

source https://www.semp.us/clean-air-issues-in-the-west-coast/

American Education Is Deteriorating

Education is the greatest gift a person can have. It is something that will last them a lifetime and can never be taken away from them (quite literally). Parents themselves sacrifice a great deal in order to give their children a good education. However, many are starting to notice how the quality of education the American youth gets, continue to deteriorate alongside the continued advancements in modern technology. Not only that, the education department is losing important federal budget funding from the current administration. It’s a big blow to both the educators and the students considering how expensive getting an education in the US has become.

Teachers aren’t also getting paid what they are supposed to earn, which in turn affects their performance and level of dedication to work. How can American students get a quality education if the teachers themselves feel burdened at work and their efforts underappreciated? We can’t afford to let this trend continue especially how globally interconnected the world is now. It is even possible that we lose to people from other nations when applying for the same job especially when it is a multinational company that hires globally.

Education pays.

According to a new report from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), adults with a college degree are 10 percentage points more likely to be employed, and will earn 56% more on average than adults who only completed the end of high school. They are less likely to suffer from depression than their less-educated peers.

The US has always enjoyed a huge advantage in higher-ed attainment. In 2000, 43% of 25-34 year olds had a college education compared to an average of 26% in the 35 OECD member countries. But that advantage is quickly closing. In 2016, it was down to four points, with 48% of Americans following through to higher ed. And Americans now have to compete in an increasingly competitive global workforce.

(Via: https://qz.com/1074113/oecd-2017-report-america-is-slowly-sucking-the-life-out-of-education-starting-with-its-teachers/)

Progressive nations place a high value on education because only then can we produce smart, skilled, and highly-competitive workers. And they know just what a big factor a teacher is in the equation. Teachers get higher salaries and better benefits, and as such, they deliver quality teaching to meet their student’s needs. Until today, the US still lags in investing heavily in early childhood programs, taking for granted the chance to harness the potential of a child if they are taught early in life.

Public schools have always occupied prime space in the excitable American imagination. For decades, if not centuries, politicians have made hay of their supposed failures and extortions. In 2004, Rod Paige, then George W. Bush’s secretary of education, called the country’s leading teachers union a “terrorist organization.” In his first education speech as president, in 2009, Barack Obama lamented the fact that “despite resources that are unmatched anywhere in the world, we’ve let our grades slip, our schools crumble, our teacher quality fall short, and other nations outpace us.”

President Donald Trump used the occasion of his inaugural address to bemoan the way “beautiful” students had been “deprived of all knowledge” by our nation’s cash-guzzling schools. Educators have since recoiled at the Trump administration’s budget proposal detailing more than $9 billion in education cuts, including to after-school programs that serve mostly poor children. These cuts came along with increased funding for school-privatization efforts such as vouchers. Our secretary of education, Betsy DeVos, has repeatedly signaled her support for school choice and privatization, as well as her scorn for public schools, describing them as a “dead end” and claiming that unionized teachers “care more about a system, one that was created in the 1800s, than they care about individual students.”

(Via: https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2017/10/the-war-on-public-schools/537903/)

The education system has long been politicized. Politics has a lot to do with the way the current US education system works the way it does now. It seems that most of us, both public officials and private citizens, have forgotten why we study in the first place. It is not just for our own personal vested interests (although that is a big factor) but in the building, shaping, and running of a society – the US of A – in this case, as our civic and moral responsibility to the state.

The youth is the future of any nation. The teachers ensure these young kids learn everything they need to prepare them in the future. But everything is so messed up right now that everybody is pointing fingers and blaming someone else for the many problems schools face now. It’s made even more complex with a leadership that also fails to recognize the importance of education in building a nation yet promises to make America Great again.

American Education Is Deteriorating Find more on: The SEMP.us Blog

source https://www.semp.us/american-education-is-deteriorating/

Making Childcare Accessible For All

Children are precious gems in the eyes of their parents. From the moment of conception until their adult years, their parents will never cease to see their kids differently even if they themselves bear children of their own. But if there is one big struggle in rearing kids, it has to do with childcare. In the US, childcare is expensive and not all couples can afford to pay for it. The problem is that both couples need to work at least two jobs to be able to live comfortably and pay for childcare without experiencing any problem at all.

You don’t just leave your children behind to be taken care of by other people because they are virtually strangers. They also learn something new and develop their language skills and motor reflexes as the hours pass by in childcare centers. And most of all, you are assured your children are safe and sound all the time. It gives parents the peace of mind to focus on their work for the time being. But again, the problem is that childcare does not come in cheap and parents struggle to simply afford it.

By 2021, if New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio gets his way, a hedge-fund manager with a seven-figure salary would pay the same amount to send his 3-year-old daughter to preschool as a single mom working as a cashier would pay for hers: nothing. Last month, de Blasio announced his plan to provide free preschool for the city’s 3-year-olds, adding to the already robust Pre-K for All program that provides education for 4-year-olds in New York. Increasing the availability and affordability of early-childhood education has bipartisan support; universal programs already exist across the country, and six in 10 Americans agree pre-k should be free for everyone. But simply expanding access isn’t enough to help children—especially male children.

Attending a low-quality childcare program has deleterious effects on boys, so much so that the children would have been better off staying home. According to a new working paper from the National Bureau of Economic Research co-authored by the economists Jorge Luis Garcia, James Heckman, and Anna Ziff of the University of Chicago, it is the quality of the childcare, not simply the presence of it, that matters. Relying on data from childcare programs serving disadvantaged children in North Carolina, the researchers found a gender gap exists in the long-term outcomes of preschool and that boys are more vulnerable than girls if exposed to facilities that aren’t meeting high standards.

(Via: https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2017/05/why-expanding-access-to-child-care-isnt-enough/528012/)

Childhood is a fundamental period in a child’s life. At this stage in life, everything is new to them and they have a lot of questions that need immediate answers. They won’t hesitate to try new things to satisfy their curiosity that may often lead to injuries or accidents when not attended. It is why childcare is crucial to their normal growth and development. They no longer have their parents to take care of them, so a surrogate parent in the form of a daycare worker or a childcare provider makes a lot of difference to how these young children turn out to be.

It’s supposed to take a village to raise a child. In America, however, it takes a really big bank account. Indeed, childcare costs in America are so astronomical that they’ve even become an issue for the wealthiest 0.001%. Ivanka Trump, for example, has made tax deductions for childcare one of her signature issues. And on Mother’s Day, Sheryl Sandberg, the Facebook executive, called for America to improve its childcare policies and better support working mothers in a post on her personal Facebook page.

Sandberg pointed out that “the United States is one of the only developed countries in the world that doesn’t guarantee paid family leave … and the only developed country in the world without paid maternity leave.” Further, “child care for two children exceeds the median annual rent in all 50 states”.

Not only is childcare more than rent, it costs more than college, in many cases. According to a recent report from the think tank New America, full-time care in child care centers for children under the age of four is $9,589 a year, while the average cost of in-state college tuition is $9,410. This means a family earning the median household income would spend one-fifth of its income on childcare.

(Via: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/may/15/sheryl-sandberg-mothers-childcare-has-to-change)

A parent spends almost 2/3 of his/her income on childcare alone. That leaves little money for other life expenses. If you are also paying for mortgage/ rent, food expenses, utilities, and transportation, then what’s left won’t be enough to cover all. That’s when you can say that the struggle is real in being a parent. If you stop working to take care of your kid, you will lose your income. If you work, you won’t earn enough to pay for all your obligations. There doesn’t seem to be a one-size solution that addresses the problem for good.

Affordable childcare should be included in the program of the government to help parents take care of their children without sacrificing the safety and well-being of the youngsters. Not only do the kids suffer in the absence of affordable childcare programs but the parents’ emotional well-being too that results to a “happiness gap” in most developed countries like America where leaders often talk about family values but seldom do something about it.

Making Childcare Accessible For All Read more on: SEMP Blog

source https://www.semp.us/making-childcare-accessible-for-all/

Is It Possible To Have Driverless Trucks?

Transportation is crucial to get us from one place to another. By nature, humans are social animals. We thrive in the company of other people and we enjoy exploring outside of our comfort zone. The world is a big space that we can never fully explore unless we take travel seriously. Unfortunately, traveling requires money – lots of it. So unless you have it, there go your travel goals down the drain.

Meanwhile, the purpose of transportation is not only to transport people from point A to point B. Transportation is also crucial in transferring goods from various places in and out of the country. Big trucks are usually loaded with various types of goods and produce to deliver supplies and make sure that stores and supermarkets are well-stocked to meet consumer demands. However, a lot of road mishaps are also because of either drunk or sleepy truck drivers who often drive through the night to make their delivery on time before most stores open.

Ensuring an orderly transition toward a future of automated, driverless trucks is an impending task for global policymakers, according to a new report released on Wednesday (31/05). 

"Governments must consider ways to manage the transition to driverless trucks in order to avoid potential social disruption from job losses," the report said. 

The report, "Managing the Transition to Driverless Road Freight Transport," was jointly prepared by the International Transport Forum (ITF), European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA), International Road Transport Union (IRU) and the International Transport Workers’ Federation. 

As rapid technological changes transform all facets of society, the transportation industry in particular is looking at a future of road freight transport that is projected to cut down costs, reduce emissions and make roads safer.

"Self-driving trucks already operate in controlled environments like ports or mines. Trials on public roads are under way in many regions, including in the United States and the European Union," José Viegas, ITF secretary-general, said during the report’s launch in Leipzig, Germany.

Additionally, driverless trucks will also address a shortage of professional drivers in the industry. 

(Via: http://jakartaglobe.id/news/driverless-trucks-freight-transports-future-depending-govt-regulations-report/)

Like with anything that is being automated these days, the government is now considering automating trucks to lower emissions, save money, and reduce the occurrence of road accidents. If there is any drawback to it, it has to do with the job losses that this massive automation will result to.

Former US President Barack Obama is speaking out on automation and driverless cars, namely the impact the futuristic tech – that’s closer to reality than it once was – could have on the economy. 

Obama, writing in The Guardian, discusses a number of issues related to climate change, including food security and the changing workforce. He shares a concern that with technology comes increased automation; it happened in manufacturing, and now it’s taking place across the service and managerial sectors. 

As people lose jobs to machines, workers don’t just lose out on income, but a “lack of meaning and purpose” that can be damaging to themselves and society. He calls driverless cars “the best example of the kinds of issues that we’re going to face.”

“Driverless cars are coming,” Obama writes. “The technologies are here and eventually the regulatory barriers are going to break down.”

(Via: http://www.techradar.com/news/obama-anticipates-a-future-economy-challenged-by-driverless-cars-and-automation)

They’re not just thinking of driverless trucks but driverless cars in general. And it is already happening around us with Tesla’s Autopilot and Uber’s self-riding cars when carting passengers. Many other bigger tech and automobile companies are all developing their own version of self-driving cars too as of the moment and it won’t be long enough when these driverless vehicles take to the streets without the law requiring a human operator to drive them.

Issues arising from this drastic change in our way of life will largely impact truck drivers or drivers in general for they will lose their jobs when cars no longer need people to drive it in order to run. The government has to look in closely how it will change the lives of the people and that of society, so that no one will be displaced and that alternate work opportunities will be provided to everyone affected.

The article Is It Possible To Have Driverless Trucks? was initially published to https://www.semp.us/

source https://www.semp.us/is-it-possible-to-have-driverless-trucks/

Finding A New Use For Your Old Phone

We may all think that technology just keeps on improving and we will no longer have room for obsolete gadgets in our lives but it seems that we are quite mistaken. Not only are vintage gadgets making a comeback but you can also repurpose old phones to make them useful again. You wouldn’t want to throw away a perfectly good phone just because it is no longer the latest thing in the market after a year or two of use especially if you are on a postpaid plan where most contracts often expire after 24 months. Its features may not be trendy or sensational but you’d be surprised at the many ways you can repurpose them for an entirely different purpose.

Nokia is actually making a comeback this year and many old souls can’t help but feel nostalgic after seeing the much loved 3310 come back to life with a twist. Stop throwing away old devices since the world is already fast becoming a big e-waste dump. There are various uses for old gadgets and they don’t necessarily have to go to waste like most old phones do. After all, your phone has witnessed many milestones in your life and saying goodbye to it for good isn’t an easy thing to do.

Why repurpose your old phone?

The old phone that you feel has no use today was probably a highly desirable product just a few years ago. Throwing away a phone you paid hundreds of dollars for, or selling it for a fraction of the cost just to get rid of it is a bad business decision. Despite being old, your smartphone still packs a powerful microprocessor and wireless capabilities.

Imagine the money you would spend on household technology like a baby monitor, a security camera, or a music player like the iPod. So why not repurpose your old phone into a piece of useful technology that replaces the need to buy individual tech products altogether? Here are some of the most innovative ways that you can implement to repurpose your old phone right now.

(Via: http://updato.com/how-to/recycle-old-phone-without-giving-away-repurpose-old-android-phone)

Cellular phones contain precious metals that are increasingly becoming scarce like copper and certain metals. Most of all, it contains glass and a lot of plastic components that are not good for the environment. Recycling old phones can even help conserve energy aside from saving the environment from exposure to toxic substances like mercury, lead, arsenic, cadmium, and brominated flame retardants that can actually still be reused and recycled.

There is one obvious downside to our fascination with gadgets-obsolescence.

Just when we start to get used on our new purchase, be it a smartphone, tablet, laptop or television, it seems there is a better one around the corner. To make matters worse, you might even find that newer and shinier tech toy that costs even less than the one you just bought.

Here are some uses and pieces of advice for your old tech products that you can consider before you ditch that old device:

Surveillance camera

If you have an old but functional smartphone or tablet that you don’t use anymore, you can build a free internet enabled security cam. Just install one of the free apps that use your device’s camera such as ”Presence” or ”Manything” for iOS or ”Salient Eye” for Android, and leave that device plugged in turned on and pointed towards something you want to keep an eye on.

(Via: https://born2invest.com/articles/repurposing-old-gadgets-newest-trend-technology/)

Most people sell their previous phones once they upgrade to the latest models but old phones can still work as a home media controller, kitchen command center, camcorder, digital photo frame, security camera, baby monitor, VR headset, video doorbell, among many others. Or better yet, use it as a spare phone where you can keep some of your digital files and contacts as back up.

If you simply just want to get rid of your phone especially if it is no longer usable, just make sure to dispose of it properly or better yet, recycle it. Industries like automotive, electronics and jewelry can make use of some of the parts of these old phones to hopefully reduce the growing pile of e-trash that is littered all over the world that not only pollutes the planet but pose a health hazard too.

The article Finding A New Use For Your Old Phone was first published to SEMP.us

source https://www.semp.us/finding-a-new-use-for-your-old-phone/

America: Brace Yourself For More Of Gordon Ramsay

Who doesn’t know Gordon Ramsay, right? The Scottish-British celebrity chef that brought Hell’s Kitchen, Kitchen Nightmares, and the renowned MasterChef among others gave new meaning to life in the kitchen. Over the years, he has been the face of many cooking reality shows that has shown the world what it takes for ordinary people to become master chefs too. What set Ramsay apart from other famous chefs is that his fiery temper is a force to reckon with. Aspiring chefs turn pale every time he shouts, curses, and loses his temper in the kitchen.

While his personality isn’t exactly the nicest, people aspire to get complimented by him when it comes to their cooking. His restaurants are sought after in the UK and now he has set his eyes to expand on American soil. Ramsay is set to open six new restaurants in the US although we are not yet privy to the details. For sure, Americans are eager to have a taste of his culinary masterpieces, a welcome change from the usual fast food staples in the country.

Ubiquitous curse word connoisseur Gordon Ramsay is planning to open six more restaurants in America, including venues in New Orleans and Baltimore, where he currently has no footprint.

Although Ramsay’s camp has not released any specifics about the Baltimore or New Orleans projects, the Financial Times points out that his group operates four hit venues in Las Vegas and Atlantic City casino/resorts, so these new restaurants will likely be casual establishments along the lines of Gordon Ramsay BurGR or Gordon Ramsay Pub & Grill, and they might also be connected to gaming hubs. One of the shouty chef’s new Vegas projects is a restaurant inspired by his long-running Fox show Hell’s Kitchen.

The Gordon Ramsay Group is bouncing back after a rough patch, with reported sales up three percent over the last year. Part of the company’s success can be attributed to the fact that Ramsay and Co. have expanded their portfolio to include more affordable establishments, many of which are run through low-risk licensing deals.

(Via: https://www.eater.com/2017/5/31/15719014/gordon-ramsay-nola-baltimore)

He got his eyes set in Baltimore and New Orleans, and even in Vegas. These restaurants will surely be a hit given that he is not just popular in Europe but in the whole world too. Expanding his brand in America may also help boost sales that weren’t so good over the past few months.

From his multiple hit television shows to his Twitter feuds to dolling out expert cooking advice, Gordon Ramsay is literally everywhere right now — except dominating the U.S. restaurant scene. Up until now, unless you lived in or visited California, Nevada, New Jersey, or New York, you were out of luck when it came to dining á la chef Ramsay stateside. But all of that is about to change, because Ramsay is reportedly opening up six (!) new restaurantsin the U.S.

The isn't a ton of information about what's actually to come yet, but it's confirmed that there will be six new hot spots, with locations in both Baltimore and New Orleans (which would be his first venues in these cities). It's speculated that the restaurants will likely be casual chains, or even connected to gaming hubs, like his popular venues in Las Vegas, Gordon Ramsay BurGR, and Gordon Ramsay Pub & Grill. 

(Via: http://www.delish.com/food-news/news/a53447/gordon-ramsay-united-states-restaurants/)

The branch in Vegas is said to resemble Hell’s Kitchen and many would likely eat there out of curiosity. After all, we all deserve to eat some fancy food now and then and not just munch on greasy, high-calorie, and unhealthy foods that are bad for our health and contributes to the rise of obesity. And because the Ramsay camp hasn’t said much about it yet, it continues to drive many Americans crazy and wondering what Gordon Ramsay has in store for their hungry tummies soon.

America: Brace Yourself For More Of Gordon Ramsay is courtesy of SEMP.us Blog

source https://www.semp.us/america-brace-yourself-for-more-of-gordon-ramsay/