After yesterday’s earnings report, which brought news that Google may not be as strong in Search as they once were, the company is announcing changes to Google Now. The mobile-first search skin, which brings in cards packed with information based on your usage, will now allow third-party apps to deliver info to you. Google says over 40 new cards will … Continue reading
Electric cars may most commonly be found scooting around cities, but Kia has more rugged adventures planned for its new all-wheel-drive EV concept, set to be revealed next month. The unnamed off-roader will preview what Kia is calling an e-AWD powertrain, targeting the sort of athletic, outdoorsy-sorts that car manufacturers love to cite when they throw big bumpers and chunky … Continue reading
This week one of the last Nokia-branded devices to be released by Microsoft is hitting shelves: the Nokia DT-903 Smart Wireless Charging Plate. This device might appear to be a standard Qi-compatible charging plate at first glance, but once you’ve got your phone sitting on top, the light-up intelligence of the device becomes clear. This device works with an included … Continue reading
During this year’s State of the Union, President Obama took the opportunity to address a range of issues from paid sick leave and equal pay to climate change and free community college. As usual, there were unlimited responses to the stances taken by the President, but perhaps the most underrated response came from the (arguably) most affected population: our youth.
@HuffPostTeen I think the new generation of voters (aka teens currently in high school) are a new wave of political enthusiasts/activists
— Tara (@Tara_SuperSub) January 21, 2015
@HuffPostTeen regardless of what political party young people identify themselves with, it’s ABSOLUTELY necessary for them to take part..
— ju (@_jujubeeeez) January 21, 2015
@HuffPostTeen politics has become horribly negative in the last decade and the gridlock is turning off an entire generation from politics
— Walker Cook (@wtc1998) January 21, 2015
Too often, the aspirations of this country’s youth are effectively dismissed. We dream too big to be practical is the unstated truth of too many of our leaders. It implies that there is fundamental incompatibility between the big change we want to see and what’s actually possible. But it’s never been the way of big dreamers to listen to the cynics. We know that there is no shortage of energy and passion among us to accomplish big things, and we must hold on to that even in the face of those who want to cling to old ways.
President Obama addressed several youth issues, but as young people we have to make sure these policies are being developed with the interest of young people in mind and advocate for the issues that directly impact our lives.
On Education
Education was a huge issue going into the State of the Union, with students and educators alike hoping President Obama would take the opportunity to discuss public education reform. Instead of addressing federal standardized testing, the President opted to talk about the highlights of our current education system. The high school graduation rate has hit an all time high and with more Americans finishing college than ever before, it made sense for President Obama to discuss access to higher education and the steps he’s taking to make college more affordable for students.
Leading up the State of the Union, there was a lot of buzz surrounding President Obama’s plan for free community college. With this plan, students will have access to the first two years of community college for free as long as they attend at least half-time, maintain a 2.5 GPA and make steady progress toward completing their program. This program potentially impacts 9 million students each year and saves the average full time community college student $3,800 year. We know that higher education leads to higher lifetime wages, and that parents who get an education tend to have children who do the same, so this proposal in general can help many low-income Americans take a great first step towards improving their circumstances.
Giving people free community college isn’t the answer by itself though. It’s true that community colleges have abysmal graduation rates and often lead to students graduating with degrees they can’t really use in the marketplace. Community college is a great alternative to the first two years at a traditional university, yet only 15 percent of students choose this option. Part of the proposal includes requiring community colleges to improve these outcomes and have programs that are transferable to four-year institutions. This goes beyond making community college free, it’s also about looking to increase the quality of education for these students. And giving them opportunities they might not have had access to before.
Although President Obama’s focus on offering free community college gives students hope that further actions will be taken to lower the cost of higher education, it’s important to note that 1 in 3 high school graduates will struggle with college readiness. High school graduation rates might be at an all time high, but there are still steps that must be taken to improve current education standards, and students have to be a part of making quality education a reality for U.S. students. Students have to be a part of the conversation surrounding education issues and building an equitable education system.
For students, education reform is personal to all of us. Because we’re surrounded by these issues on a day-to-day basis. It’s important for policy makers to acknowledge the voices of students when addressing the issues that directly impact our lives.
On Climate Change
Another hot topic (pun totally intended) at the State of the Union was climate change, with President Obama proclaiming “no challenge poses a greater threat to future generations than climate change.” When politicians talk about future generations, they’re talking about us. And youth have long been active in calling for climate action.
We recognize the threat that climate change presents. It’s past time to debate it’s existence — it’s here, it’s real and if we don’t act now then by the time our children grown up we’ll be telling stories about how different the planet used to be. Young people aren’t responsible for the rapidly rising levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. But, unfortunately, our generation will bear the weight of the actions taken (or likewise, no taken) by those who came before us. Yet, we’re still hesitant to get involved in politics.
We didn’t cause this, but in order to protect our future it is up to us to do our part to fix it. If you’re reading this, you’re no longer off the hook. If you’re still sitting on the sidelines, if you’ve never gotten off of Twitter and organized in the real world, if you’ve never volunteered for that candidate who believes climate change is a major issue… then you’re part of the problem. Most of the people in Washington are part of the status quo, and we know the worst polluters also have big pocketbooks to protect their interests. Power doesn’t concede easily. But President Obama was right: there is no greater threat than climate change.
Obama said that the good people on Capitol Hill should focus less on the money race for negative ads, and focus instead on people just like you. They should be asking you to get engaged and get to work in the process. I don’t think the people in attendance at his speech really want that. Half the room is excited about things that young people tend to think are pretty bad ideas: controlling women’s bodies, proving climate change is a hoax and keeping a tax system that works best for those who already have a lot of money. Young people made up about 1/5 of the electorate in 2008 and 2012. Imagine if we kept coming out like that and worked on building on those numbers-entire campaign platforms would need to be rethought. Congress wouldn’t just be thinking about their biggest donors anymore, they’d be worried that come next cycle you’d show up at the voting booth and end their career because they still hadn’t acted on climate, or worked to make it so that the government wasn’t profiting off of student loan debt. Young people can actually change the country, but it can only happen if they show up every election year, not just the “big ones”. You can’t keep sacrificing the issues you care about by staying home and letting the 36.4 percent who do show up for midterms elect an entire group of new Congressmen that won’t act on climate because they aren’t scientists.
Giving young people an active presence in our political system goes beyond showing up to vote. We have to work together to empower young people to run for office in their local communities. Change has to begin with us. When we have young people leading by example, it inspires other to do their part to contribute to our government system. It won’t be easy, but young people have to demand a seat at the table. We’re already leading in our communities through service projects and social movements. If we can harness that passion and energy and join together to change the policies that directly affect our lives, there’s no telling what we can do. When President Obama ended his address, it was hard not to feel optimistic. Because he was right, a brighter future is ours to write. Young people everywhere should work to start this new chapter together, and we should start now.
Dear newly elected House members,
It’s January, meaning the beginning of not only a New Year, but also the beginning of your new session. Can you believe we’re in the 114th session already? Abraham Lincoln, Joseph Pulitzer and Donna Edwards graced the same room that you find yourself in. Pretty crazy to wrap your mind around, isn’t it?
As a teen, I’m not going to pretend like I know a whole lot about politics. I’m currently in AP Government and Politics and received a 5 on my AP United States History exam, but memorizing laws and current affairs issues somehow isn’t as easy as memorizing the newest One Direction song. I’m young, and I have a lot to learn, and that’s okay.
However, one thing I do know is that this is 2015, a year of opportunity and progression towards America’s goals. It doesn’t take a political analyst to look at the headlines today and know that there are serious issues affecting not just our nation, but also our world today. Police brutality, ISIS threats and outbreaks of Ebola are only just a sample of the stories we see on TV, and the fear that ignites each citizen’s heart.
This year, I urge each and every one of you to take the courage necessary to look past your differences, and take an honest look at the best solution for America. Know that change isn’t limited to the mission statement of a political party, but rather in the bravery and adventure of celebrating different views. Go outside your comfort zone to look at what the other side sees. Think critically, but not close-mindedly. If we want it to be a year of change like we’ve dreamt of for so long, then we’re going to have to jump outside the boundaries of our fixedness and explore the perspectives, cultures and views of others.
This year, I also urge you to look at the next generation with a sense of hope. We might be teens, quoting lines from The Fault in Our Stars and eating endless amounts of pizza, but if you give us a chance to share our voice, you won’t regret it. If we are the future of America like everyone says we are, then it is time to focus our efforts in training, leading and empowering the next generation of leaders. If you can look past our emojis and constant fangirling, you might find the cure to cancer, the next hit single, the upcoming bestselling novel or the leading activist in women’s rights.
Pretty soon, we’ll be at the legal age to vote, and it’ll be our selection that will make a difference in American politics. Don’t forget us, because when you do, you’re silencing the people that will one day be responsible for the succeeding generation. When you empower the youth of the United States, you’ll receive a bigger return on your investment than you can imagine. Let us speak. Let us learn. Let us be heard.
I’d like to say we have enough time, but in reality, we don’t. The world is moving faster and faster, developing countless innovations a day and simultaneously breathing, eating and sleeping. As we look to the bright possibilities that the future has, remember that we’re counting on you. This year can be the year that historians look at in fifty years with admiration, reverence and wonder. We can overcome the problems that our country faces, if we are open enough to give others a chance. We can be remarkable, or we can be repetitious. We can be awesome or we can be apathetic. We can revolutionize or rewind. The choice is yours.
All my best,
Julia Schemmer
I only knew Iqra’s name because it was written in neat, teacher handwriting on her school folder. I asked her if she had homework, even though I knew she couldn’t understand what I was asking, so I pointed at the folder, then looked through it to see for myself. Nothing seemed relevant for this tutoring session, so I grabbed some crayons and we colored instead. She looked at me with huge, expectant eyes as I put green Crayola in her little hand — What am I supposed to do with a stick of wax? I drew a circle. She drew a circle. I drew a line. She drew a line. We continued for the next forty minutes of the session, yielding a sheet filled with pairs of random shapes and squiggles. Productive.
It seems that most of my time spent as a tutor for child refugees to Chicago ends up this way. The kids are from all over — Burma, Congo, Iraq, Kenya, Malaysia. They’re all ages, with preschoolers like Iqra making up the younger side of the spectrum all the way up to eighth graders and a few high schoolers. They came to the U.S. at different times, speak different languages and practice different religions. Some of the kids have lived in Chicago since infancy, others moved here only weeks ago. Some went to school in their home countries, some didn’t. They’re all grouped together in this cold, white-walled church basement every weekday afternoon, asking tutors if they can help with their homework.
Homework is a challenge for the tutors and kids. It’s hard to teach a 12-year-old algebra in forty minutes when they don’t know how to count yet. But something has to go down on the worksheet. It’s hard to guide a fourth-grader in summarizing a story when they couldn’t read in their first language, let alone decipher a chapter of an English chapter book. And it’s hard for schools to place kids in an appropriate grade level when they don’t know how old they are, and it’s hard for kids to get caught up after years of only informal education.
As of 2010, 2.4 million child immigrants lived in the U.S. Those numbers aren’t decreasing — thousands of foreign-born children enter the U.S. every year, faced with an education system unprepared to take them in on top of totally new and unfamiliar surroundings, language and culture. While the national graduation rate is increasing, refugee and immigrants’ dropout rates remain stagnant above 30 percent. White, U.S.-born students are three times as likely to graduate as their foreign-born counterparts, and it’s not hard to see why. While the U.S. education system is working fine for upper-middle class, college-bound students, it is failing the lower classes. With local property taxes as the foundation of school funding in many instances, wealthy suburban schools thrive while the poorest, most broken schools will remain broken, perpetuating inequality. Schools with huge influxes of immigrant and refugee populations often couple lack of funding with difficulties meeting students’ individualized needs and intensive language programs.
Perhaps the U.S. could take a note from Finland. Its population has diversified faster than any other country in the EU in the last 15 years, yet still earned top places in the international PISA tests — while the U.S. ranked 36th. Many attribute Finland’s success to the teachers’ prestige trend in other high-performing countries as well); only the top 10 percent of university students training to be teachers are allowed to enter the profession. Finland has also implemented a “positive discrimination” policy in which the poorest, lowest-performing schools are given extra funds — the direct opposite of the U.S. funding system.
This has been especially helpful to teachers of foreign-born students, who appropriate funds at their schools as they see useful. Some have used funds to hire more social counselling staff, who can smooth the transition to a new country. All foreign-born high school students have individual “social instructors,” who counsel students on academics, but also find them friends and act as psychologists.
It may not be realistic for every refugee child to have a personal counselor in the U.S. given the current education budget. But a shift to change the grossly unequal funding for schools or to ditch the ridiculously rigid No Child Left Behind focus on standardized tests is do-able and should be done.
After the kids finish their homework, they rush upstairs to the gym. I don’t think there’s heating because you can see your verge-of-Chicago-winter breath in it, but everyone just zips their jackets a little higher. Some kids play basketball, some chase each other, some dive into the pile of costumes donated to the center last Halloween. The suburban, white volunteer tutors are racing around the perimeter of the gym with the refugee kids, and I can’t help but picture a world in which they all win.
It’s yet another weekday, and at promptly 7 AM the alarm goes off, telling me to get ready for another day of school. I grudgingly press snooze, hoping for another 30 minutes of sleep while dreading the excruciating day ahead of me. To be quite honest, I haven’t been excited for school since I was 11, where on some days we had parties and just ate food; coloring was homework, and learning was still fun. As you get older and progress through the American public education system, you are more wary of school with each passing day. Where are the schools that everyone seemed to enjoy; where are the East Highs from High School Musical? This childhood idea of a high school utopia lets down students everywhere once they experience it for themselves.
Of course, there are a multitude of reasons for this utter dislike of school 99.9 percent of students have. One of those reasons, obviously, is the ridiculous amount of work you are given and expectations you are supposed to meet once you get to high school. It is not a rare occurrence for me (or other students) to stay up until 2 AM finishing homework and studying for tests. And even this 10 hours of consistent studying per day is not nearly enough. After each year, it gets harder and harder to get into a good college. Acceptance rates keep plunging, and test score requirements are exponentially increasing. As students, the only motivation we have to do well in school is to get into college. But you can’t just have a good GPA, you have to meet a never ending list of requirements: amazing SAT and ACT scores, endless extracurriculars, leadership positions, spectacular essays, volunteer work, teacher recommendations, etc., etc. To be honest, at times it seems like one company is ruling my life. No, not some designer brand or worldwide corporation, but the College Board — from AP classes to administering the SAT, it pretty much monopolizes my life. Isn’t there a law banning companies like this that take reign of people all over the nation who aren’t even 18?
Meeting requirements from the school and the College Board should not be the basis of our education and learning, but yet it is. Some teachers say that if you put your passion and energy into learning and fully understanding all the concepts, the grade that you want will simply come to you. I have tried that, I really have. I’ve taken time to learn and like and understand the subject, but then the other 50-100 pages of homework I have for other classes gets neglected, and I end up leaving test rooms with C’s or F’s in my hands. We can’t find time to fulfill basic needs like sleep, and we definitely don’t have time to learn anymore! We have time to know what’s on the test and get the grade we hope for. So what should I say in my all-important college essay? “Dear Admissions Officer, sorry, I tried to learn, but it hurt my grades. I promise not to learn anymore, but I’ll just make sure that all my projects and homework are up-to-date and completed. After all, who cares about learning as long as you have a 4.0 GPA?”
Another unfair advantage some students have is the teacher they get. I sign up for the class, but I cannot pick the teacher. I may be lucky and get an amazing teacher who understands all my wants and needs, or, more than often, I get the teacher who is too lazy even to stand up during class, and doesn’t even answer students’ questions comprehensively. I have seen this for myself, and the gap of understanding between students with one teacher versus another for the same subject is tremendous. To solve this issue, the school board could make teaching requirements and pay higher, but since education is a local affair, this could not take place everywhere, and reform would be highly costly.
Clearly, everyone acknowledges the inherent flaws in our school system, but will anyone ever do anything about it? Will there ever be a day where students get enough sleep, don’t have stress or anxiety because of school, or have time to learn and appreciate the education they’re being given? Socrates once said that education is the kindling of a flame, not the filling of a vessel; but it seems to me that most of us are just filled-up vessels. Even the poor teachers are too busy meeting the curriculum requirements to light up any kind of flame. Maybe the kindling of the flame is where college comes into play (just once you get in).
Although the moments we spend with our dogs may seem routine day in and day out, every moment is one that can be memorable.
When I start to encourage playtime with my dogs, I first let them pick up the scent of whatever toy we are going to play with. By letting them smell the toy, you are getting their full interest and they will be focused on the game. I think one of the best games you can play with your dog involves a search and rescue theme, where the dog has to seek out the hidden object using all of his senses.
I think it is also important to engage in a little play yourself. So often we get lost on the track of work and family that we forget how to have some fun for ourselves. It can be as simple as a bike ride or a game night at home, but it is really important to get out there and just play!
Your pets can help you achieve this playful time too, they don’t have to be separate events. And by incorporating your pets into your personal playtime, you are creating an even healthier lifestyle for yourself too! Scheduling playtime with your dog every week is a great way to add extra physical and psychological exercise to your walk routine–although it should never be a substitute for the walk. This also allows your dog to express all the special needs and abilities of his breed. You can play fetch, swim in the pool, play with a Frisbee, learn new tricks, or run an obstacle course, whatever your pleasure or your dog’s special talent.
Stay calm and assertive!
_______________
Cesar Millan is a best-selling author, a much-in-demand public speaker, a branded pet care product designer/entrepreneur and, not least of all, international star of Nat Geo WILD’s “Cesar 911” and original host of the “Dog Whisperer” program. For more information, visit CesarsWay.com.
The sharp decline in oil prices over the past few months has put oil producing countries like Mexico in a difficult position. At the time of writing, the Mezcla Mexicana (Mexican Mix), which is normally priced lower than Brent or West Texas Intermediate, is below the $40/barrel mark, a level it had not reached since the 2009 global financial crisis. This weakness in oil prices comes at a time when the government is struggling to overcome a two-year economic slowdown, as well as ensure the attractiveness of Mexico’s considerable energy potential after passing the energy reform. Although there are various mitigation strategies in place for 2015, the country will have to make important adjustments in both the short and medium-term if low oil prices remain the norm after 2015.
The fiscal scenario
Mexico is a net oil exporter and also depends to a large extent on oil revenues to finance its budget: 10% of non-financial public sector revenues come directly from crude oil exports (and all oil-related revenues account for 30%). A fall in oil prices of this magnitude would expectedly result in some severe fiscal disruption but various factors will help mitigate the shock. First and foremost is the fact that Mexico every year undertakes a massive sovereign hedging program, the largest of its kind from any country in the world. This involves the finance ministry (SHCP) purchasing oil options from numerous investment banks at a pre-determined price, and enough to cover a certain percentage of expected oil sales. This year, the hedging was negotiated at $76.40 per barrel which is slightly lower than the budgeted price of $81 but still over double the value of Mezcla Mexicana today. Indeed the SHCP was fortunate to have negotiated this just before global prices plummeted in November-December. It is estimated that the hedges cost $773m USD but they are currently helping avert a total loss of over $7bn USD which in retrospect was quite a bargain (this is under the assumption of a $54.4/barrel price in 2015 which is the Economist Intelligence Unit’s baseline Brent forecast and a rough approximation for the Mezcla Mexicana being $10 lower than Brent).
The problem, however, is that the hedges – while substantial – do not cover the entirety of the 398 million barrels of total oil exports and leave 170 million barrels (43%) unhedged. Essentially, the federal government has hedged its own share of the budget, while leaving the share allocated to the non-federal public sector – which includes state-owned firms like Pemex and the CFE – to the whim of the market. Under the EIU’s current baseline assumptions, the hedged share of oil sales would amount to 1.3% of GDP in revenue, whereas the unhedged share would provide 0.6% of GDP. This is a loss of about 0.5% of GDP compared to the situation in which the entire volume of exports had been hedged. Although the overall loss in revenue is still substantial, at 22.6% compared to budget figures, this loss would have been 43.1% without it.
Making up the difference
Two further factors must be taken into account. The first is that the depreciation of the Mexican peso has had a positive effect on the budget since oil is sold on the global markets in dollars which are then converted into more pesos than was the case before. Using an estimated $13.91 average MXN/USD exchange rate in 2015, this will have reduced the total loss by $12.7 billion MXN, equivalent to 0.1% of GDP (due to rounding, this still leaves the gap compared to the budget at 0.5% of GDP) and leaving the total loss versus the budget at 19.6%. The second is the fact that local gasoline prices are not set by the market but by a price smoothing mechanism of set increases known as the gasolinazo. When global oil prices have been high, Mexican gasoline prices have been kept below-market, in which case the mechanism acts as a subsidy (a rather expensive one: it cost 1.8% of GDP at its peak in 2008). However, when oil prices fall, Mexican gasoline prices will be higher, transforming the subsidy into a de facto tax. According to estimates by the SHCP, gasoline taxes will raise about $30.3 billion MXN in 2015 (0.2% of GDP), which in the absence of a subsidy will be fully added to the public coffers. Of course, not all of this is “additional” income per se, since it has already been budgeted. But there is a windfall insofar as the difference between prices at the pump (fixed for the year) and the cost of supplying the petrol is wider than originally envisaged.
This still leaves approximately 0.4-0.5% of GDP worth of revenues unaccounted for. Following initial announcements of cutbacks to Pemex and the CFE, the finance minister Luis Videgaray announced today a series of wide ranging budget cuts which add up to $124.3 billion MXN, or 0.7% of GDP. Of this, around two-thirds would be cuts on current spending, but the rest would affect public capital investment. This is rather unfortunate, given that two specific investment projects have been put on indefinite hold: the Mexico City-Querétaro bullet train (Latin America’s first), as well as another railway in the Yucatán peninsula. It is likely that the decision to suspend these two rail projects follows the recent fiasco over the initial Mexico City -Querétaro bullet train tender, which was cancelled after receiving just one bid. On the positive side, the magnitude of the cuts (which appear to be higher than the projected oil revenue shortfall) seem to suggest that no additional debt will be issued to finance the budget. This will come as a relief given the fiscal laxity seen these past two years: 6% of GDP has been added to the public debt stock with Videgaray at the helm of the SHCP.
The long term effects
The persistence of low oil prices into the medium term is arguably the more important conundrum since the government will be unable to shield its fiscal revenues to the extent that it could in 2015. It is therefore likely that authorities will be looking to see in what ways public expenditure can be streamlined on a more structural basis. This added degree of fiscal discipline is welcome, insofar as cuts do not affect sectors that are contributing to productivity or serving essential socio-economic needs. Additionally, the impact of lower oil prices on the attractiveness of the energy reform needs to be considered. An initial round of tenders (known as “Round One”) was well received by international investors but it was focused on shallow-water areas that remain highly profitable even under current prices. More crucial will be whether the follow up rounds that will involve deep-water and shale will remain so: authorities are considering the possibility of delaying some tenders if demand appears weak.
In summary, the government will be able to mitigate some of the effects of lower oil prices but not all, and will need to find a way of ensuring that the necessary cutbacks will not have an impact on what is still a fragile recovery. Given that macroeconomic management has been less than stellar so far during the term, the pressure will be on Videgaray to achieve results if further public disapproval of the administration (already badly damaged by the political crisis) is to be averted.
My friends and I spend our lunch breaks discussing current affairs. I know it’s strange, but with the way the world is changing every single day, we feel the need to. Sometimes, during our conversations, we ask each other why we do this. Why discuss current affairs? Why do we need to know about them?
I spent part of my summer doing a politics course at Oxford University, which was one of the most enriching experiences of my life. I was finally able to ask all my questions on politics, and understand what is really going on in the world today. Every teen should have the opportunity to fully understand political events from across the globe.
Since we live in a globalized world, every current event affects our daily lives. This is true, regardless of whether of you live in a small town or in a large, international city, like I do. We may feel that it takes a lot of effort to find out about what’s going on in the world, but honestly, it’s easier now than it has ever been. Now, we can just go to Google News, turn on the news channel on TV, listen to the radio; the ways of gaining information are endless.
Understanding politics helps us develop a better understanding of the way the world works. Even scrolling through the headlines every morning before school can help you understand current affairs. As the future generations of change, we need to know about current affairs to help us make the world better tomorrow.
This is site is run by Sascha Endlicher, M.A., during ungodly late night hours. Wanna know more about him? Connect via Social Media by jumping to about.me/sascha.endlicher.