Want to protect yourself and your loved ones from getting COVID-19? Of course you do! Will you do anything in your power to do so? Then STOP HOARDING and SUPPORT first responders and healthcare professionals. My daughter is an ER doctor in Silicon Valley. As her mother, I want to protect her from the coronavirus and quite frankly, I wish she’d leave the profession.
She treated the first coronavirus patient in the Bay Area back in January, and she has been treating many patients since then. She and the selfless paramedics, nurses, doctors, and other healthcare professionals are risking their lives to save ours. Stop and think about that for a moment. Would you give your life to save a stranger’s?
When I hear that people are hoarding masks, disinfectant wipes, and hand sanitizers, I feel outraged. People are hoarding so many masks that HOSPITALS DO NOT HAVE ENOUGH MASKS TO PROTECT OUR FRONTLINE WORKERS. Selfish, stupid people.
If doctors, nurses, and first responders can’t protect themselves from very sick patients suffering from COVID-19 and other life-threatening diseases, our hospitals will close when they run out of staff. When doctors, nurses, and paramedics get sick, need to be quarantined, or die, WHERE WILL YOU GO WHEN YOU OR YOUR PARENTS GET SICK AND NEED HELP?
Listen to the healthcare professionals and help them set up and prepare for the biggest pandemic we have ever faced. Make sure they have access to masks, coronavirus test kits, and other life-saving devices and equipment they need NOW. Their voices are the ones you can trust and you need to support. They are not trying to win elections, make money on drugs or masks, or hide statistics from you.
When I hear that the government is DIVERTING FUNDS AWAY FROM PREVENTING THE SPREAD OF COVID-19, I feel even more outraged.
We need to ask why the Trump Administration has done the following:
- Submitted a budget that would:
- Eliminated the Pandemic Unit of the National Security Council [Source]
- Cut the Complex Crises Fund of $30 million that could deploy disease experts for this crisis. [Source]
- Forced CDC to slash the program to prevent global disease outbreak by 80% [Source]
- Downplayed the seriousness of COVID-19 by telling people it’s no worse than the flu and that they should go out to restaurants or go back to work when the doctors, WHO, and the rest of the world is quarantining. [Source] [Source] [Source] [Source] [Source]
- Postponed an annual intelligence report warning that the US is unprepared for a global pandemic. [Source]
- Asked for just $2.5 billion (half diverted from other programs) to deal with the coronavirus outbreak, when the congress instead authorized $8.3 billion in emergency funding. [Source]
- Made every step (albeit, delayed step) taken to contain the coronavirus all about Trump – it’s become his political campaign.
To take care of yourself and your loved ones, you need to make sure your healthcare professionals and frontline workers have all the personal protection, test kits, and equipment they need to save all of us. So stop hoarding, and start sharing. When you buy, buy for 2 weeks — not for 6 months. Pressure local, state, and federal agencies to protect our frontline workers and give them the tools they need to keep us safe. And, stay home no matter your age or vitality. Do your part to give our healthcare workers a chance to manage this pandemic.
Want to protect yourself and your loved ones from getting COVID-19? Of course you do! Will you do anything in your power to do so? Then STOP HOARDING and SUPPORT first responders and healthcare professionals. My daughter is an ER doctor in Silicon Valley. As her mother, I want to protect her from the coronavirus and quite frankly, I wish she’d leave the profession.
She treated the first coronavirus patient in the Bay Area back in January, and she has been treating many patients since then. She and the selfless paramedics, nurses, doctors, and other healthcare professionals are risking their lives to save ours. Stop and think about that for a moment. Would you give your life to save a stranger’s?
When I hear that people are hoarding masks, disinfectant wipes, and hand sanitizers, I feel outraged. People are hoarding so many masks that HOSPITALS DO NOT HAVE ENOUGH MASKS TO PROTECT OUR FRONTLINE WORKERS. Selfish, stupid people.
If doctors, nurses, and first responders can’t protect themselves from very sick patients suffering from COVID-19 and other life-threatening diseases, our hospitals will close when they run out of staff. When doctors, nurses, and paramedics get sick, need to be quarantined, or die, WHERE WILL YOU GO WHEN YOU OR YOUR PARENTS GET SICK AND NEED HELP?
Listen to the healthcare professionals and help them set up and prepare for the biggest pandemic we have ever faced. Make sure they have access to masks, coronavirus test kits, and other life-saving devices and equipment they need NOW. Their voices are the ones you can trust and you need to support. They are not trying to win elections, make money on drugs or masks, or hide statistics from you.
When I hear that the government is DIVERTING FUNDS AWAY FROM PREVENTING THE SPREAD OF COVID-19, I feel even more outraged.
We need to ask why the Trump Administration has done the following:
- Submitted a budget that would:
- Eliminated the Pandemic Unit of the National Security Council [Source]
- Cut the Complex Crises Fund of $30 million that could deploy disease experts for this crisis. [Source]
- Forced CDC to slash the program to prevent global disease outbreak by 80% [Source]
- Downplayed the seriousness of COVID-19 by telling people it’s no worse than the flu and that they should go out to restaurants or go back to work when the doctors, WHO, and the rest of the world is quarantining. [Source] [Source] [Source] [Source] [Source]
- Postponed an annual intelligence report warning that the US is unprepared for a global pandemic. [Source]
- Asked for just $2.5 billion (half diverted from other programs) to deal with the coronavirus outbreak, when the congress instead authorized $8.3 billion in emergency funding. [Source]
- Made every step (albeit, delayed step) taken to contain the coronavirus all about Trump – it’s become his political campaign.
To take care of yourself and your loved ones, you need to make sure your healthcare professionals and frontline workers have all the personal protection, test kits, and equipment they need to save all of us. So stop hoarding, and start sharing. When you buy, buy for 2 weeks — not for 6 months. Pressure local, state, and federal agencies to protect our frontline workers and give them the tools they need to keep us safe. And, stay home no matter your age or vitality. Do your part to give our healthcare workers a chance to manage this pandemic.
Now that most schools in the US are closed for at least 2-3 weeks and some for the rest of the school year, there are some things you can do to make sure that your child won’t fall behind and to give them a head start next year. While this interruption in school affects the whole country, it doesn’t need to handicap them if we use this time wisely. Don’t be fooled to think that your children are okay because their teachers won’t test them on material they didn’t cover due to school closures. They may get A’s on their spring report cards, but they still need to learn the concepts they missed. When students miss a month or more of school (and classes aren’t conducted every day at the same caliber as they are when they’re in classes), they will be behind next year when their teachers expect that they had learned a bank of concepts the previous year. This is the real problem.
You don’t need to be a mathematician, physicist, or published author to support your children’s academics. All you need to do is organize their time at home. They’re already used to a routine at school, so give them some structure to help them stay on task and to ward off anxiety and depression. Set up a schedule for them to wake up, have breakfast, and get ready for the day – yes, get them out of their jammies!
Then, layout their academic or school schedule if they don’t have online classes with their teachers at a regular time. This gives you the unique opportunity to fine tune what they will learn and to give them support in areas where they may be weak. If they need to build a stronger math foundation, set up math drills using online math games (MathBlaster) or math programs (Khan Academy) to give them mileage so they can be successful in math when they return to school.
For students who need to build reading comprehension skills (all ages; and it’s great for SAT prep too!), give them books to read. Yes, lots of books! Here is a list of summer reading that I recommend for elementary, middle, and high school students. Block off 45 minutes to an hour for reading without distractions (cell phones, video games, TV, radio). Have your children start a journal to document their experiences and to give them free reign to find their voices while using complete sentences (no abbreviations or text-message style). The best way to improve writing is to write!
Hire online tutors or teachers to teach difficult concepts and to give your children exercises to build their skills in these areas. These teachers can pick up where the classroom teacher left off, and continue to cover all chapters and concepts that the students will miss. This will ensure that they do well when they return this semester and that they’ll have the foundation they’ll need to proceed in all classes next year. Merit offers both tutoring and one-on-one accredited classes taught by real teachers in Google Hangouts.
Besides academic learning, you can also block off time for your children to explore art and history museums online. They can start a vegetable garden. Children and teens can also learn how to crochet and knit blankets. Pull out puzzles to give them a long-term challenge – and to get them off their computers. Create a list of movies and documentaries you’d like them to watch.
The opportunities are endless. Just make sure they stay home or in the yard – don’t take them out into the public. We all need to work together to make sure that we aren’t carrying the virus and spreading it to others. So let’s use this break from school to prepare our children with the additional skill-building they’ll need when they return to school in a month or next year.
A lot can change in 24 hours, and this pandemic has caused lots of anxiety for everyone. For college-bound students, and their parents, who were scheduled to take the SAT or ACT, here are a few updates:
1. SAT has been canceled until and including May 2nd. You will receive refunds for all cancelled dates. The next SAT will be on June 6th – we’ll update you as we get closer to that date.
2. ACT has been rescheduled for June 13th. If you’ve registered for previous test dates, ACT will contact you about new dates.
[Source]
While the idea of being “quarantined” sounds stressful – conjuring up visions of claustrophobia – it may be just the relief we all need. We’re busy with work or school, childcare or homework, and traffic and over-scheduled activities. Racing around town and juggling commitments just wipes us out and we become vulnerable to all kinds of sicknesses.
So the new chant “Stay at Home” may be just what we all need. Take this opportunity to protect yourselves and your loved ones by cancelling social gatherings and events for the next 2 months. Take this time for YOU and rejuvenate. When you’re not stressed out, your body will better ward off illnesses so you can optimize your chances of not getting COVID-19.
I look forward to doing projects around my home and property now that I’m staying put. Here are some things you can do to improve your life and get a jump start on all those little things that you’ve put off for too long.
1. Connect with family and friends using Google Hangouts or Skype (online)
2. Spring clean your home
3. Plant veggie seeds to get your spring garden started
4. Put together your Go-Bag
5. Start your genealogy research by reaching out to family via email, text, or hangouts.
6. Set up free exercise/yoga schedule and do this in your living room
7. Binge watch your favorite episodes or discover new shows
8. Sit in on webinars and participate in Q&As
9. Dust off those books that you’ve wanted to read
10. Take online classes to expand your mind (or get college credit)
11. Find your “to-do” lists
12. Purge your junk (get rid of stuff you don’t use or need)
13. Weed your gardens
14. Limb branches 100 feet from your house to prevent fires
15. Move firewood and wooden furniture at least 5 feet away from your house
16. Give yourself a facial or do your nails
17. Work on your taxes
18. Meal prep and freeze for later
Regardless of your age or health, stay at home and avoid going to places where you’ll interface with people. If you’re over 60, you may get COVID-19 and die. If you’re under 60, you may carry the coronavirus (and get sick) and even worse — infect your parents, grandparents, or loved ones and they can die. Either way, STAY AT HOME! Relax and work on your to-do lists! You’ll also reduce your gas mileage and CO2, and you won’t be wasting your precious time in traffic.
What we need to know about the coronavirus that isn’t fueled by misinformation, politics, and hysteria.
My daughter is an ER doctor and these are the 9 things she is advising me to do:
- Stay at home!
- Wash my hands
- Don’t touch my face
- Conduct business in Google Hangouts/Skype
- Participate in webinars and zoom meetings
- Get my flu shot and pneumonia vaccine
- Cancel travel plans
- Avoid young people who are not socially isolating themselves
- Read this article about “flattening the curve” (see link below)
By taking these precautionary steps, the ER will be able to handle real emergencies – very sick patients suffering from life-threatening diseases and COVID-19. Hospitals are not equipped with enough test kits, masks, and PPEs to treat the number of people who will need hospitalization.
[Source]
I went to see Trump’s WALL in El Paso, Texas, to understand what the locals think of the wall. Not being familiar with traveling across the Mexican border, I learned the hard way that once you pay 50 cents to enter Mexico on foot, you can’t return to the same place. That scared me because I didn’t expect to have to walk through the city of Juarez to get to the next bridge where immigrants have to wait in a long line to go through customs. I was definitely not prepared. I thought I would just interview a few people to get their take on the WALL to write this blog, and walk back over the border…
I expected to see Trump’s shiny, new wall protected by guards, but instead, all I saw was a completely rusty metal wall. It was shorter than I expected and it wouldn’t be hard for anyone to climb over it with a ladder and jump to the other side. I wondered why they used metal that rusts so quickly and would need a lot of maintenance to keep it from corroding.
As I waited in a long line to get back into the US, I interviewed a Mexican-American man who told me that the wall would never deter anyone from trying to smuggle in drugs or illegal things to America. He laughed at the thought. He said that they would just go around the wall. Then he confessed that he used to be a drug dealer and that he would bring in tons of drugs in trucks at night. The wall wouldn’t stop him or any of the drug dealers.
A Mexican woman with lung cancer who lives in the US said that she goes to Mexico for her cancer treatment because it’s only $500 (not thousands like in the US). She goes through customs with her boyfriend every week and it’s not a problem getting through. Not sure how Trump’s policies are supposed to be keeping people from coming into the US. Seems like he wants to build the wall just to stamp his name on it.
Another Mexican-American interviewee said that Trump’s wall is causing all kinds of environmental hazards. The wall intercepts the Rio Grande River, which diverts the water and is causing problems with the local farmers who need the water. The river was completely dry when I was there. It reminded me of the movie “Chinatown” with Jack Nicholson and Faye Dunaway, where LA county water is controlled and diverted by corrupt officials in Chinatown.
Another guy said that if the US government installed surveillance cameras every 100 feet, they would deter people from coming through the border and it would be a fraction of the cost. Staff could monitor the cameras 24/7 and notify the authorities when people try to enter illegally. Hmm.
My take: Use the money (that is slated for the wall) to mitigate our carbon and gas problems and provide medical coverage for all Americans. The wall will not stop illegal immigrants or drugs from entering America. This vanity wall is simply another obsession by our narcissistic president.
Over 1000 colleges give students the option whether or not to declare their SAT or ACT scores with their college applications. Now the University of California is considering dropping the standardized test requirement for their admissions process at their 9 campuses. This is a highly controversial subject that comes on the heels of the admissions scandal where wealthy families paid proctors to cheat by giving their children unfair advantages.
Requiring SATs or ACTs has 2 problems: (1) These standardized tests do NOT identify students who will do well in college; and (2) Wealthy students who are average or even below average can receive excellent scores when their parents pay thousands of dollars for SAT or ACT private prep tutoring, which makes gives the rich students an unfair advantage over poor students.
The real problem colleges face is determining which students will be successful at their institutions. Grade point averages (GPAs) vary from school to school. In wealthy school districts where classes are taught by teachers who often hold advanced degrees, they often succumb to grade inflation due to an onslaught of demanding parents. On the other hand, in poorer school districts where they struggle to keep good teachers, these teachers burn out quickly when faced with students functioning several grade levels below average and often don’t have the foundation to learn the concepts. An “A” in one school could be a “C” in another.
Maybe the honest way for students to apply to colleges and for colleges to determine whether a student will be successful is to have a college application day where every student in the nation fills out the application form, writes their essays, and organizes their resumes in the school auditorium. Teachers and counselors could assist the students and answer questions as proctor the application day. That way, the colleges evaluate the students based on their own work and all students receive the same support and guidance. Just a thought…
[Source]
What’s the Rush to Go to College?
After 12 years of elementary, middle, and high school, why are kids so anxious to go straight to a 4-year college, and then possibly grad school? With the pressures they face to get top grades, study for SATs/ACTs, volunteer, and do extracurricular activities, kids burn out and lose focus on what and why they’re doing everything. I believe that when kids take a GAP YEAR to find what it is students are interested in and get involved, they’ll make smarter decisions about their future careers and where they want to live. They’ll also BE HAPPIER!
This one or two-year period gives students time to pursue a project – something they’ve always wanted to do but never had the time to do it. They can build a tiny house, they can lead others on an expedition, they can offer relief to victims of climate disasters, and more. Kids need to feel useful – either as part of a team to help others or as an individual doing a project to start something on their own. They can also start a business!
College will always be there and they’ll probably get into a better college if they take a gap year to show their interests and passions. Many other countries require that kids give a year or two to support their military so they build patriotism and camaraderie. Some religions require students to do missionary work before starting college or moving on to the adult world.
While I have concerns about pushing kids into the military or missionary work, I do strongly believe that all kids can benefit from taking a breather from the stress of getting into top colleges and doing a project to benefit society or help them figure out what they really want to do when they grow up.
[Source]
Did you know it takes 295 lbs. of non-renewable raw mineral ore and water to make a single iPhone? That’s ridiculous when the phone only weighs 4.5 OUNCES!
I remember when I first learned that Apple designs their iPhones so we can’t replace the batteries when they go dead, which is about a year. If you try to open up an iPhone to replace the battery, you would be voiding the warranty. Even when just about all other cell phone companies allow you to replace the batteries yourself, Apple has held hard to this policy. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Apple designs phones to last about a year (yes this takes incredible engineering to do), which requires customers to throw them away and buy new phones (hmm — $$$) instead of simply updating the software or parts, or simply replacing the old batteries.
Besides not allowing consumers to repair their phones, Apple has intentionally slowed down older iPhone just before releasing new models. They have been doing this through updates for the iPhones. Now Apple has agreed to pay $500 million to settle a lawsuit. They’ll pay $25 for iPhone 6s and iPhone 7s bought before December 2017.
Like so many others, I was mesmerized by Apple’s marketing splash and bought into “needing” the new iPhones every year. After my 5th iPhone I got tired of the hype for a phone that isn’t better than the others, and I bought Android Samsung Galaxy cell phones for my family. This was in 2014 and I have had the same phone for 4 years! All I’ve had to do is replace my batteries and update the software. Most importantly, I didn’t have to buy 3 new phones during this time and I’ve saved thousands of dollars.
This throw-away mentality has to stop. Manufacturers need to design cell phones and products to last. This isn’t just a cell phone problem, it’s happening in heavy equipment manufacturing too. John Deere makes tractors that are difficult and sometimes impossible to repair. Farmers are now buying tractors that were built 40 years ago because they were built better and the farmers could repair these expensive rigs themselves.
When I turned 16 years old, I learned how to rebuild my 4-cylinder engine, give it a tune-up, change the oil, and rotate the tires. For under $20, I could replace spark plugs and change the oil (I’m dating myself…). But today, nobody can maintain, tune-up, or work on their internal combustion engines because they need expensive computers to do the diagnostics.
We don’t have the resources to make throw-away products and we don’t have the space in landfills to deal with the waste. It is unethical to design and engineer products that can’t be repaired. Manufacturers across all industries are making huge profits by making us buy “throw-away” products or taking away our ability to make simple repairs. We need to spend less, and waste less.
We are not asking for trade secrets; we just want to extend the lives of our devises, cars, and equipment. State legislatures across the nation are discussing bills that will make personal and third-party repairs more accessible to consumers. Write your governors to tell them that they should support our right to repair our stuff and that they should pass legislation to force manufacturers to stop this unethical and wasteful business practice.
[Source 1]
[Source 2]
In today’s podcast, TEDx speaker Sethumadhav Perumalla talks about his new book “Trumpists: The Art of the Tweet”. It’s a great interview that covers a lot ground, including how Generation Z responds to misinformation, and how this affects our democracy and our future.
To listen to today’s podcast, find GakkoMom on iTunes and subscribe to it, or listen below: