Hasta La Gadget!

YORK, Pa. (AP) — As tens of thousands of Central American kids have crossed illegally into the United States, GOP Rep. Scott Perry has suddenly seen immigration become a top concern for voters in his heavily rural district far from the U.S.-Mexico border, eclipsing even President Barack Obama’s health care law and the deficit.

“I think people are very upset, and people have really been awakened to the immigration issue where they haven’t been before,” the first-term congressman from southeast Pennsylvania said in an interview at a bus leasing company, where he recently met with a group of small-business owners. “Right now at this current time, I would say immigration is the No. 1 issue on people’s minds.” It’s the same story around the country this summer as polls show the crisis of unaccompanied children at the border has made immigration a pivotal issue with November elections approaching.

Republican Senate candidates in three contested races have focused ads on the issue, and it has the potential to affect campaigns in unpredictable ways that hold risks for members of both parties and for Obama.

For now, Republicans like Perry are able to boast that the House took action to address the border crisis before leaving Washington for its August recess, even though the Senate and Obama did not.

Republicans “demanded that we stay and pass a bill so we could show the American people ‘This is what we stand for,'” Perry told the business owners, referring to the House GOP’s legislation to spend $694 million on the border and make controversial policy changes to return the migrants home more quickly, as well as end an Obama program that granted work permits to more than a half-million immigrants brought to the U.S. illegally as kids.

How the issue plays out over the fall depends both on what happens in South Texas, where border arrivals have declined in the summer heat, but could rise again, and in Washington, where Obama is weighing extending deportation protections and work permits to millions more people already living in the U.S. illegally.

Such a move could upend the politics around immigration yet again, thrilling Latino voters who will be crucial for the 2016 presidential election. But it could also rile up Republican base voters, who are more likely to turn out this November and could make the difference in a handful of GOP-leaning states where vulnerable Democratic incumbents are trying to hold on.

Perry and other Republicans warn the president would pay a steep price politically for taking such a step.

“I think there will be a backlash, not necessarily that people will automatically come to vote for Republicans, but like in so many elections they might just stay home because they’re disgusted,” Perry said.

Indeed, Senate Democrats seeking re-election in red states, including Arkansas’ Mark Pryor and North Carolina’s Kay Hagan, have cautioned Obama against proceeding unilaterally.

But there’s also a risk for Republican lawmakers such as Perry and Rep. Joe Pitts, whose district borders Perry’s and includes Lancaster. They already are hearing from angry constituents who want Obama impeached, and executive action by the president would likely only increase such demands. That’s an unwelcome prospect for most Republican officeholders who see impeachment as a political loser, since it would be certain to energize Democratic voters and likely turn off many mainstream Republicans.

“It’s just absolutely ridiculous. We’re not going to do that,” Pitts said in an interview in Quarryville, 40 miles east of York through rolling green hills, after a local dairy farmer declared that any president should be “automatically impeached” for taking as many executive actions as Obama has.

The chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, Rep. Steve Israel, D-N.Y., said Republicans could end up in trouble if Obama’s moves on immigration increase calls for impeachment.

“The problem that Republicans have right now is that they have engineered a strategy to turn out their base voters in a midterm election and that may backfire against them as their base voters demand that House Republicans keep going farther and farther to the right,” Israel said in an interview.

Rep. Greg Walden, R-Ore., who leads the National Republican Congressional Committee, countered in a statement that voters want someone who will secure the border, and “Republicans have a very clear and consistent message about the need to provide an appropriate check and balance on this administration.”

Still, the border crisis has already scrambled the politics of immigration. Establishment Republicans have feared that given the growing number of Latino voters, they would pay a political price over their inaction on comprehensive immigration legislation, which died this year in the House. That may prove true in the presidential election in 2016, but so far this year Democrats have sometimes been on the defensive, as polls show the southern border crisis has caused support for comprehensive reform to dip while voters embrace calls for border security.

“Want to know why there’s lawlessness on our border? Ask Sen. Shaheen,” Republican Senate candidate Scott Brown asks in one ad against incumbent Democrat Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire. “She voted against border security twice, and for amnesty. It’s time for us to secure the border and enforce the law.”

As our high school graduates are getting packed up and we all scurry around finding those odd XL twin sheet sets that only fit a college bed, our children worry about getting their dorm rooms just right and perseverate as they stalk potential roommates on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. We, their parents, perseverate too.

Like our children, so many of us parents are worried about the wrong things as we prepare our kids for the start of a college career. We fail to use this seminal moment as an opportunity to share values. The reasons are many. We get distracted by the details, and there are a lot of them to manage. We get sidetracked by our children’s articulation of their needs. But most significantly, perhaps, we are afraid. We fear sharing values that may not be “popular” with our kids. We fear “intruding” on their independence at the very moment they are preparing themselves to leave our nest.

This fall, I would like to propose an alternative approach. Don’t let all of the noise of preparing these things distract you from the significance of preparing your child. Yes, they look like adults at this point, but they aren’t. Studies conducted by the National Institute of Mental Health clearly show that the parts of the brain required for impulse control and planning ahead are the last to mature. As their parents, we need to take this opportunity to focus on what really matters as we drop them off for school.

Just recently I had the opportunity to give it a try myself. As I sat in the airport last September waiting for my flight home after taking my son to school, I wondered if he had been listening all of these years. Did he get the wisdom I intended to impart? Did any of it stick? Was he really ready to go and do without me? Like a good Jewish mother, I decided then and there that a little more guidance wouldn’t hurt. I sent him the following list, entitled, “11 things to think about as you start your college life” and here it is:

1. Anticipate consequences to the best of your ability — this requires that you think before you act. I know that the teenage brain is impulsive and you seek immediate gratification, but restraint and foresight will serve you well.

2. Take care of the people around you… your roommate, dormmates, classmates, and girlfriends. This really matters as it speaks to your character and shapes how people view you and ultimately how you view yourself. Comport yourself with dignity so you can feel good about how you treat people, even those who you don’t like.

3. Take care of yourself… really. Make time to work out, stay in shape, get enough sleep, remember hygiene, and eat healthy food most of the time. And don’t ignore symptoms if you do get sick. You haven’t been on your own before, so it is up to you to listen to your body and learn how to protect it so it works for you.

4. Go to class and do the work. It seems simple… but that is the formula for success in school. High school was a much more rigid and monitored environment, in college you will be expected to manage your time, pace out assignments and seek out help.

5. Use the adults in your world to help you succeed and grow. Teachers, mentors, parents of your friends — find them, call them, meet with them, confide in them. Experience matters and they have more of it than you do. These people want to be in your life and want to help you succeed. Just ask and you will be surprised how excited people are to support your efforts.

6. Try something outside of your comfort zone academically. College offers so many choices; take advantage and push yourself, maybe religious studies or semiotics or philosophy. This is a great opportunity for exploration; so don’t fail to take a risk or two academically.

7. If you get into trouble or you see trouble lurking nearby, ask for help! Don’t delay, get help. Sometimes this keeps a little problem from getting big or helps contain a big problem so that it isn’t catastrophic. Think about this like a stairwell; it is easier to recover and climb back up if you catch yourself at the first landing and don’t tumble all the way to the bottom.

8. Stand up for what’s right. Don’t be a bystander, don’t ignore injustice or compromise your values. College campuses are often bastions for polarizing rhetoric. Take the time to listen respectfully, but stay true to yourself and never be a lemming. I know fitting in seems like the most important prerogative, but be the mensch you are even when it doesn’t feel popular.

9. Don’t do drugs! Just don’t. It is a slippery slope with potential for grave consequences and you don’t need to be high to enjoy all that life has to offer. Drugs alter your reality and impact your judgment. Your reality is amazing without trying to augment it with narcotics. It may seem easy to ignore this advice and eye-roll this parental logic. I hope you take pause to consider the dangers of drug use, whether it is habituated behavior, compromised judgment, or addiction.

10. Remember how much you are loved and admired and respected by the people in your life and work to maintain the excellent reputation you have earned. It is far easier to lose these things then to regain them once they have been lost.

11. You will make mistakes — we all do. It is part of life. The tragedy isn’t in making the mistakes; it is in not learning from them. Pay attention to the lessons you are learning along the way and don’t repeat the errors. Fail better. Fail well.

Any such list is partial; I tried to keep it to my top 10, but couldn’t resist adding number 11. Still, it is better to send the fledglings off with something rather than nothing at all.

To be sure, there are many of us parents who are afraid to speak up to their kids and worry about being embarrassing, annoying or uncool. But if we don’t take advantages of these opportunities, we fail them, in the end. Remember that as parents, one of our primary goals is to launch our kids with the tools they need to succeed. College is a big test of their preparedness and resiliency. It is our job to help them do what their brains can’t yet comprehend: anticipate consequences, consider implications, and plan ahead.

Of course, we need to share our values with our children whenever the opportunity presents itself, and the transition to college is not the only occasion to share values and speak honestly and directly with your children. For those with younger children, a bar/bat mitzvah, or graduation, or birthday can serve just as well. And do not be disappointed when you don’t get a heartfelt response to your missive. The impact will manifest not in their emotional reply but rather in the change in their actions. My son showed me he was listening when I observed his behavior during his freshman year. He wasn’t perfect, but he heard me.

So don’t let this particular opportunity pass you by. Once the Bed Bath and Beyond trips have been made, the Internet has been accessed, and the snacks for the room have been purchased, take a moment to share your values. Write your list or share a version of mine. You worked hard this summer to prepare that dorm room; don’t miss the chance to prepare the being who will inhabit it.

It’s back-to-school season and here in Maryland our schools have already begun welcoming students back for the new academic year. Initial estimates show there’s a good chance we’ll reach a new record enrollment this year with more than 860,000 students filling our classrooms – and we’re ready for them.

In Maryland, the O’Malley-Brown Administration has an eight-year track record of making smart investments in our schools and in our children. While 35 states have retreated on education funding during the Recession, we are one of only 13 states to increase funding per student, with a record $6.05 billion in FY15 funding. In fact, we’ve had the 4th highest increase in per student funding between FY08 and FY14. Working together with students, parents, teachers, legislators and school officials across our great State, we’ve built a top-ranked public school system — one that gives our children the knowledge and skills they’ll need to compete in our 21st century global economy.

From 2009 to 2013 — five years in a row — Education Week magazine ranked Maryland’s public schools #1 in the nation. In 2014, Education Week didn’t put out rankings, but Maryland retained Education Week’s #1 composite state ranking. We were one of only five states in the past decade to decrease the poverty achievement gap by more than five percentage points. And the College Board announced that Maryland students continue to be #1 in Advanced Placement (AP) success.

And we’re always innovating. This fall’s graduating seniors will be the first class to complete Maryland’s nationally recognized environmental literacy education requirement. At the same time, many of our schools are adding new STEM-oriented programs like computer science and natural resources. We’re also making new investments in quality Pre-K programs to make sure more our youngest learners will be ready for the challenges ahead. We’ve also invested in innovative solutions in our public schools – the Digital Learning Innovation Fund, the Maryland Longitudinal Data System and the Early College Innovation Fund.

But despite our successes, there’s always more work to be done, and more ways to improve.

This school year marks the second full-year implementation of Maryland’s rigorous College and Career-Ready Standards. More than 4,000 teachers and administrators took part in professional development to work with the standards this summer, the fourth consecutive year we’ve offered it. These standards are designed to ensure that all of our students will be ready to compete when it’s time to step out of the classroom and into a career or college. This spring, students will be tested with the first administration of PARCC – an assessment test aligned to our standards. As we transition, we will continue to support our teachers throughout this process.

But perhaps the most critical element in building and maintaining a top-tier school system is having good teachers, principals and administrators to lead the way.

This summer we held the first Governor’s Promising Principals Academy, where 48 of Maryland’s finest educators — men and women who aspire to become principals — took part in intensive professional development. Additionally, our teachers and principals are working together to strengthen educator evaluation. All of our school systems are now using a new evaluation system, and in an unprecedented show of cooperation this summer, the State’s teachers, principals, board members, and local superintendents all joined together with the MSEA and MSDE in a pledge to further refine the system.

All of these efforts are aimed at a single target: improving student success from day one, through graduation and beyond.

Maryland schools succeed because we have never stopped investing in our students and doing the things that work.

Somewhere over the rainbow roll, tuna fins are blue. And the dreams that Jiro dares to dream really do come true. But unfortunately, not all sushi reaches such lofty heights.

Today, much of what Americans eat comes prepackaged off of a grocery store shelf. Store-bought sushi can range widely in quality (some is actually legit!), but even the best-intentioned grocers aren’t going to be able to recreate the sushi bar experience.

So to find out the differences we spoke with the author of The Story of Sushi, Trevor Corson (aka the Sushi Concierge) and learned 18 ways that grocery store sushi pales in comparison to its higher-end cousin.

And for the record, Trevor admits that he does shamelessly indulge in store-bought ‘shi occasionally, but it’s usually vegetarian rolls, as he tries to save his money for the good stuff. Maybe after reading his insights, you will too.

More: You’re Ordering Sushi All Wrong: 8 Tips To Make You A Sushi Expert

THE RICE
It’s too mushy… or too dry
The rice is likely cooked with too much water, leading to an initial texture more akin to baby food. But after a few hours in a cold case, that roll will be dry as a bone.

The temperature is wrong
Sushi rice should be served close to body temperature and kept slightly warm until being served. That’s not happening in a grocery store.

The flavor of the rice is off
Grocery store sushi rice is usually cooked with much more vinegar and sugar, often a pre-mixed ratio, leading to more overpowering rice that attempts to make up for less flavorful fish.

The rice loses its integrity
Decent sushi chefs don’t view the rice as one ring of starch, they think of each grain as separate. Over time those grains of rice cease to be unique snowflakes and conform into one bland snowman.

The rice isn’t packed right
The chef makes a decision with each piece of sushi as to how tight to pack the rice. Generally it’s so loose that it’ll be falling apart by the time it reaches your mouth, but with cheaper sushi that level of care isn’t taken.

Learn about all the differences between the fish in a grocery store and a high-end sushi joint, plus why the ginger, wasabi, and soy sauce tastes mighty different!

More from Thrillist:

Food Pho Pas: Simple Things You’re Doing Wrong While Eating Asian Food

How to Pronounce the 16 Most Confusing Food Words

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PBX solutions have been used by companies for many years. However, with the technology rapidly changing and evolving, you may feel as though it’s hard to keep up with the changes. Keeping the most crucial needs in mind is essential.

Knowing how many phone numbers, extensions and phones to use ahead of time makes the transition easier. Knowing whether you want to keep using your current number, get a toll-free number or a vanity number is also essential. Lastly, you’ll want to consider specific features like long distance and conference calling.

Cloud hosted PBX technology has changed the way that companies handle their phone calls. It’s a combination of PBX, or Private Branch Exchange, and cloud hosting. This option allows the hosting provider to fully manage the maintenance and storage for the hardware. This eliminates the need for dedicated IT professionals to manage the phone systems, saving companies both time and money.

One of the major advantages to this solution is that installation costs are minimal. In some cases, companies may be able to start using a new PBX system without any upfront costs. You will enjoy the peace of mind that comes with knowing that someone is available to handle any problems that arise. This is a solution ideal for small or medium businesses that use fewer than 300 phone lines.

It’s easy to see why many companies have decided that this is a great alternative to traditional PBX systems. On-hold music, call routing and other features used in an office environment are included, ensuring that you don’t have to do without important features. An increasing number of new features are expected to be available as this technology evolves.

The setup process is much easier because of everything being unified. Older systems required the use of several types of wiring and hardware. These newer systems are more unified and are focused mainly on the use of a router. This is an option that is also much more flexible than many previous systems. Many companies benefit from allowing their employees to access their phone system when they’re out of the office. The best part about this option is that it’s easier to add additional features that employees may need.

Making the switch to one of these more advanced PBX systems is easier than many people may realize. You have several options depending on whether you want to port a current number or get set up with a new one. Should you decide to port your current number, make sure your service with the previous provider isn’t terminated until the porting is done. Otherwise, you will lose access to your number. Forwarding incoming cells to a mobile number during this time is often the easiest method.

There are several settings that you’ll want to make sure are taken care of right away. You can arrange to have calls come in to the office during specified hours, with options for answering calls after hours. No matter whether you choose to have after-hours calls go to a mobile number or voicemail, you’ll find that this is more convenient than using an answering service.

Other types of configuration come in handy for offices that have several departments or jobs allocated to certain people. Dial-by-name directories are becoming increasingly popular, making it easy for customers to connect with the right person when a receptionist is unavailable. This is also a good way for customers to leave a message after hours. Other important types of configuration that must be kept in mind include how incoming faxes are handled.

Most of the more advanced PBX companies have billing systems that are easy to understand. A common solution for many companies is to offer several plans that include the most common features. One important thing to make sure you’re aware of is whether there are fees for setup, activation or porting in addition to the first month’s fee. These companies not only offer extensive knowledge bases and other self-help features, but also make it easy to reach customer service professionals.

If you’re not completely sure which solution is the best one for you at a first glance, don’t be afraid to do some research. Reviews from others who have used the services you’re interested in can be very helpful for decision-making. Customer reviews can help you find out what both the pros and cons of a specific option are. You’ll have access to plenty of tools that will help you find just the right option. The right PBX system will make things much easier for your company.