I grew up during the ‘60s when Women’s Lib and feminism rocked the world of the likes of Mrs. Cleaver (Leave it to Beaver – sitcom about the traditional all-American family). The dad went to work and earned the bacon while mom tended to the children, cooking, and laundry. So when we took a 6-week trip to Europe and stayed in 3-consecutive home exchanges, I insisted that we all take turns doing daily chores. Simple things like turning on a washing machine was difficult and was often the source of much aggravation. So I delegated Rob to being the family launderer for the 6 weeks. Big mistake!
Rob grumbled as he headed out the store to buy laundry detergent in a town south of London, and he did just about everything but kick the washer and dryer to get it to work. After he pulled out his first load of clothes from the dryer, Nicole and Jaclyn were horrified. All of our clothes had turned a grayish-green! We were in England so the instructions were written in English, hence, there was no reason Rob could have mixed up the detergent with something else. But he did. In one load of laundry, Rob managed to ruin all of our clothes that we’re supposed to wear for 6 weeks!
That is where I now realize, 20 years later, that Rob out witted us. Although he won’t admit this, I think he poured green dye into the washing machine to – YUP – get the reaction he got, so that I would tell him to never touch the laundry again! In hindsight, none of Rob’s clothes were ruined… He got us!
I grew up during the ‘60s when Women’s Lib and feminism rocked the world of the likes of Mrs. Cleaver (Leave it to Beaver – sitcom about the traditional all-American family). The dad went to work and earned the bacon while mom tended to the children, cooking, and laundry. So when we took a 6-week trip to Europe and stayed in 3-consecutive home exchanges, I insisted that we all take turns doing daily chores. Simple things like turning on a washing machine was difficult and was often the source of much aggravation. So I delegated Rob to being the family launderer for the 6 weeks. Big mistake!
Rob grumbled as he headed out the store to buy laundry detergent in a town south of London, and he did just about everything but kick the washer and dryer to get it to work. After he pulled out his first load of clothes from the dryer, Nicole and Jaclyn were horrified. All of our clothes had turned a grayish-green! We were in England so the instructions were written in English, hence, there was no reason Rob could have mixed up the detergent with something else. But he did. In one load of laundry, Rob managed to ruin all of our clothes that we’re supposed to wear for 6 weeks!
That is where I now realize, 20 years later, that Rob out witted us. Although he won’t admit this, I think he poured green dye into the washing machine to – YUP – get the reaction he got, so that I would tell him to never touch the laundry again! In hindsight, none of Rob’s clothes were ruined… He got us!
I believe that every cloud has a silver lining – even today in the aftermath of the most contentious presidential election in recent history. While I am dismayed and humiliated by the mockery that has taken place over the past year, I hope we all hear the message from Americans loud and clear: Americans don’t trust the oligarchy (government controlled by corporations) that we call our government and that we are willing to accept a president who offers drastic change, even if it doesn’t represent our core values and beliefs. I like to stay in control. I work hard to create the little world that I live in. And when I feel that just about everything I had hoped for when this election cycle started now vanished, I’ve picked myself up – albeit slowly this morning – and I’m laying out plans to take care of business. We can’t wait for the new administration that will set us back and fumble around for the next 4 years.
What does that mean?
The biggest problem we face as a civilization is climate change. We need to reduce our CO2 levels by 60% by 2026 or our comfy lifestyles that we take for granted will be gone forever. The president-elect believes that climate change is a hoax invented by the Chinese, which means that we can’t rely on our government to find solutions. We are running out of time to find a clean energy system that can do the job.
Invest in Energy Solutions
If oil companies are holding out to sell their last barrels of oil and they’re calling natural gas “a clean alternative,” we need to move to real clean energy now without them. When my daughter Jaclyn was 15 years old, she took a class from Dr. Roy McAlister who invented the “Smart Plug,” a patented spark plug that converts your internal combustion engine so that it will use Metrol, liquid hydrogen (at room temperature). Today, the non-profit organization Kids 4 Hydrogen that she started in 2004, has an amazing team of teens who are carrying out her mission: Convert the ONE BILLION vehicles in the world to use hydrogen instead of gasoline. Hydrogen produces ZERO emissions. Check out their website: www.Kids4Hydrogen.org. They’ll be updating the website soon with information about how to sign up to convert your cars and where to get the fuel. Get on this list. This is something you can do.
Start reducing CO2 now
Rather than argue and debate about good energy solutions, we need to simply reduce CO2 emissions now. That means that everyone – no excuses – needs to reduce their driving by 10-20% per week. It doesn’t matter that you go to work on off hours or that you need your truck to carry big loads. Figure it out like your life depends on it, because it does! Join Logan’s movement to get everyone to reduce their driving by pledging to do so on his website: www.WhenNotIf.org. It’s easy and free. He’ll calculate how much CO2 you prevent from entering our atmosphere. You can do it. You need to do this. Now.
Turn your shock and dismay into positive action. You’ll feel better for it and you’ll be part of the solution. We can’t do anything about a Trump presidency/congress, but we can join the world in reducing CO2 and fossil fuel use. Support non-profit organizations to get this job done. We don’t have time to wait for another administration to set the course to save civilization as we know it. Remember, the earth will survive; it’s the living things that won’t.
Good news for UC transfers!
The application deadline has been moved from Nov 30th to Jan 3rd! Wow. UCs are trying to admit one transfer student for every two freshmen. So take your time to write killer essays!
This is also good news for students who are going the community college route. And the best part, you graduate from a UC no matter where you started!
PSAT scores will be released on December 12th. You’ll receive good information about where your kids are strong and where they might need more support. Colleges don’t see the PSAT scores so not to worry if your kids didn’t do as well as you hoped.
The good news is that they have time to develop those skills between now and when they take the real SAT or ACT.
Some more good news: The math portion of the new SAT will have less text-heavy questions because many students weren’t able to complete the math sections on the new test. Thank goodness!
Many states are using the SAT as their state’s accountability requirement, which parents prefer and as a result, students show up to take. I’m all for reducing the amount of days that students are required to take state-mandated tests because it gives them more time to be productive in the classroom.
New guidelines by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) can help parents make smarter choices about how much screen time their kids get each day. The old guidelines clumped types of screen time like entertainment and educational programming together just like they clumped ages of children together. So, this was a good step in the right direction. The AAP published an interactive online tool to personalize your family media use plan. It’s good for getting the conversation going about what activities are off limits at specific times of the day and in particular locations.
Use your good judgment and common sense when designing your plan. Make meal time, homework time, and bedtime sacred by declaring them a no-screen time zone. The AAP recommends that children under 18 months use screen time only to Facetime or Skype with family members but not for a babysitting substitute. Kids ages 2 to 5 should limit screen time to just one hour per day. Older kids (6 and older) need consistent limits that create a healthy balance between sleep and physical activity. Today, kids need screen time to do a lot of their homework and to check assignments online. Obviously we can’t limit computer time for academics, but we can limit the number of hours our kids play video games.
I found the AAP Family Media Use plan to be a bit cumbersome to fill out and something that most families probably won’t use. Instead, make family rules about places to have screen time and the maximum number of hours allowed each day. Then, give your kids the wifi password AFTER they finish their book-work homework and chores.
Don’t allow screen time during meals or on short trips to preserve your family social time, and place device chargers in the kitchen, not bedrooms, so the kids don’t use them in bed. The sounds and lights interfere with their sleep patterns. Check out a blog I wrote about controlling internet use when you’re away from home. Set controls on your kids screen time while you still can.
Once they establish social patterns of having their phones and gadges attached to their hands, it’ll be next to impossible to teach them how to balance their lives with exercise, social activities and school. Remember, you’re the parent and it’s up to you to set the rules.
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As a Baby Boomer, I grew up at the quintessential time for rock ‘n roll music. “Rock Around the Clock” emerged out of rhythm and blues the year I was born, and Chuck Berry opened the door for all the rock greats. Bob Dylan called Chuck Berry “the Shakespeare of rock and roll.” Berry influenced virtually all of the music from the likes of the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, and the Beach Boys. My girls say that I’m stuck in the ‘60s – and I’m proud of that. So back in 1997 when Nicole was 12 and Jaclyn eight, I wrote a musical script that gave them (and the audience) a rock ‘n roll history lesson: “It’s Gotta Be Rock ‘n Roll Music: 1955-1964”
Merit students performed the #1 hits from 1955-1964. Before each song, they gave short speeches about what was happening in the world that year and a little biography about the artist. They performed “Maybeline” and learned about how Chuck Berry set the stage as a singer, songwriter, arranger, and pianist. I still remember Kyle doing the Chuck Berry riff across the stage.
Check out this article “Why Chuck Berry is Even Greater Than You Think” in Rolling Stone.
With the impending presidential election on everyone’s mind – both here in America and around the globe – I decided to try to better understand the election process to see how are voting system works. After the Bush-Gore debacle back in 2000, I realized that the electoral college can undermine what the actual people want. So here’s a quick history and explanation about the electoral college.
Whose idea was the electoral college?
James Madison, one of our founding fathers, added the electoral college to the Constitution to provide a check system to prevent a “tyranny of the majority.” In other words, Madison thought it best to have a small group represent all of the people to make sure that decisions are made in the citizens’ best interests. This assumes, of course, that the citizens don’t know what’s best for themselves.
Do elected officials consider their constituents’ mindset before casting their votes?
In the past, there have been 82 votes that have gone against the people’s wishes. Today, 29 states (of 50) require electors to represent the people’s wishes, but 21 states allow electors to go rogue. That’s 2/3s of the nation with elected officials who can choose whatever path they like regardless of their constituents’ support.
How are electoral votes determined?
Distribution of votes is based on the state’s population. Every 10 years, votes are reallocated after the national census is conducted. There are 538 electoral votes: 435 from the House of Representatives, 100 from the Senate (2 per state), and 3 from the District of Columbia. California has the most votes (55) followed be Texas (38), New York (29) and Florida (29). The states with the least votes are Alaska, Delaware, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont, and Wyoming. 48 states have winner takes all the votes except Nebraska and Maine (divide their votes proportionately).
How many electoral votes are needed to win?
270. If there is a tie, the House of Representatives elects the president. The crazy part about the electoral college is that a candidate can win the presidency without getting any votes from 39 states and the District of Columbia! WHAT? That means that a candidate could win just 11 states and become president.
What are “swing” states?
Swing states are those that don’t have a consistent history of voting either Republican or Democrat. Candidates spend most of their time campaigning in these states, especially as the election day approaches. Swing states are usually Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Michigan, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Wisconsin.
Can a candidate win the popular vote, but not win the presidential election?
Yes. This happened to Al Gore in 2000. He won the popular vote – more people voted for him than Bush — but he didn’t secure the 270 electoral votes needed to become president. So we ended up with Bush.
While I understand the need to have policies in place to prevent a hysterical movement from overtaking our government, I believe that with a popular vote, we will have a more balanced campaign season and we’ll elect a president who better represents the people.
In California, it seems we rarely see candidates on the campaign trail because we’re a blue (Democratic) and winner take all state. By going with the popular vote, we’ll see more Independents and possibly break the reign of our two-party system. So I lean towards the popular vote, and wish this was already in place.
China’s National College Entrance Exam, or “gaokao” test consumes the lives of every Chinese student – and their families – from elementary to high school. This single test will determine whether or not the students will get into the top universities in China, which translates to having a life of financial success and marriage prospects. Wow.
The competition is so fierce that as few as one in 50,000 students get into the most sought-after colleges. Hoping to give their children, and themselves a better chance at success, parents force their children to work with tutors, take extra classes, refrain from doing sports, and stop socializing with friends. Some parents even succumb to cheating. Yup!
With high-stakes competition, parents have sent their children into the tests with devices to transmit questions and receive answers hidden in jewelry, glasses, pens, and even underwear. It has become such a problem that the government deploys drones over school buildings to scan for incoming or outgoing radio signals. This is not without precedent – the Chinese imperial civil service exam that was in place for 1,300 years (605 – 1901) had a similar importance on the course of a person’s life, and test takers went to similar lengths to make sure they passed the test. When someone’s future is decided by a single test, it’s no surprise that the system will be fraught with all kinds of problems.
What’s worse is that the students equate the gaokao test score with self worth. The students internalize so much pressure to do well on this test that they suffer from depression. One of my clients told me that he started smoking cigarettes when he was 10 years old, and drinking when he was 12. 93% of teen suicides takes place around the build up to the gaokao test date. Being an only child whose parents have invested funds and time into helping them succeed, sets up ridiculous guilt and fear of parental disappointment if they don’t score high on the exam.
Can’t believe Nicole is in her 4th and last year of her residency at Harbor UCLA.
She loves the hospital and especially her Emergency Medical team. Nicole has decided to do a fellowship in EMS (Emergency Medical Services), which takes one more year.
Over the past few months, she’s interviewed with several programs and just completed her last interview at UCSF yesterday. We were thrilled that she came up to the Bay Area for 23 hours, so we all adjusted our schedules so we could be together. I brought the puppies up to meet her and we had fun catching up at Jaclyn and Alex’s place in Mountain View.
We’re crossing our fingers that Nicole moves back to the Bay Area sooner, than later, but of course, this is her decision to make. Proud that she wants to specialize in EMS to develop efficient systems for pre-emergency and emergency protocol in the case of a disaster. Also glad that she will eventually be back here for all of us in the Bay Area.
Did you know that the average family of four emits more greenhouse gases because of the meat they eat than from driving 2 cars?
If everyone became vegetarians by 2050, food-related emissions would drop by 60% — according to Marco Springmann, Oxford Martin School’s Future of Food Program. I know I couldn’t live without my ribeye steak and Rob’s smoked salmon fillets, but I could stop eating meat one day per week.
Check out this interesting article “What would happen if the world suddenly went vegetarian?” by Rachel Nuwer of BBC Future.