Trump Continues To Be A Threat To The US Public Education

A parent’s dream is to see their kids graduate and become successful later in life. While education is only seen as a means to an end, education is actually a once in a lifetime journey that fills your life with both good and bad memories to last you a lifetime. A good education equips children with the knowledge, skills, and attitude they need as they journey into adulthood and with a better understanding of how the world works and where they fit in the picture. For the most part, parents have an option whether to enroll their kids in a public school or a private institution. However, it seems that most parents will only have the latter as the option in the coming years.

If there is one thing that you can count on during the Trump administration, it’s all about tax cuts. It seems that he made it his personal mission to take away important federal funding on government agencies and programs he does not personally believe in or are against to. And as the school year is about to end, there is a big likelihood that education will no longer be free the next time around. It is a big stumbling block to students coming from poor families who can barely put food on the table more so pay for expensive private school tuition.

Donald Trump and Betsy DeVos’s proposed budget for the US Department of Education is a boon for privatization and a disaster for public schools and low-income college students. They want to cut federal spending on education by 13.6 percent. Some programs would be eliminated completely; others would face deep reductions. They want to cut $10.6 billion from existing programs and divert $1.4 billion to charter schools and to vouchers for private and religious schools. This budget reflects Trump and DeVos’s deep hostility to public education and their desire to shrink the Department of Education, with the ultimate goal of getting rid of it entirely.

The proposed budget would shrink the assistance programs that now enable 12 million students to attend college: funding for college work-study programs would be cut in half, thus “saving” $490 million. It would eliminate a student loan forgiveness program, enacted in 2007, that encourages college graduates to enter careers in public service—such as social work, teaching, or working as doctors in rural areas—by relieving them of their college debt at the end of ten years of such employment. Some 550,000 young people have joined this program in the past decade; the first wave are due to have their debts forgiven in 2017, but it is not clear if the administration will follow through on the promise to cancel their debt.

(Via: http://www.nybooks.com/daily/2017/06/05/trump-devos-demolition-of-american-education/)

Public schools rely heavily on government funding for it to work. And millions of American youth count on the system to help them get a quality education because their parents can’t afford to pay for it themselves. Trump promised to “Make America Great Again” during his campaign but with the way things are going on now, many are doubtful if he’ll be able to do it considering he is planning on reducing the budget for education and there’s even buzz about the privatization of most schools.

Ultimately, we recognize that you can't pull off an upset if the game is rigged against you and that those of us who were not born into privilege sometimes need a boost from our teammates. (That's it for the sports references.)

And that's precisely why the Trump administration's recently released 2018 budget is such a deeply problematic assault on the American Dream. It eliminates many of the critical supports that give people the opportunities and tools to better their lives, particularly through a net cut of more than $10 billion to education.

For example, quality preschool gives children – especially those who are most vulnerable – the strong start they need to succeed in school and in life. But the Trump administration's budget eliminates the Preschool Development Grants from the Department of Health and Human Services – a program that would have provided thousands more children with access to quality early learning.

(Via: https://www.usnews.com/opinion/articles/2017-05-25/donald-trumps-education-budget-cuts-are-an-assault-on-the-american-dream)

A $10-billion budget cut is no laughing matter. It means not enough support for teachers as well as after-school and summer programs that currently help impoverished students keep up with their well-off peers. College students will also be affected as work-study programs will lose $4 billion in federal funding. What’s worse is that this budget cut is not solely limited to education alone but as well as in mental health services, access to nutritious meals, public transportation and even public housing among others that are crucial aspects of nation-building.

By reducing the funding for these basic services, the ordinary American will have a hard time keeping up with the times and will sink deeper into poverty. And since they can’t afford to send their kids to school, they have no way out of this mess. As a result, they can’t contribute to the betterment of the American Society and persist to be a burden to the government. What Trump is doing now is an attack on the American people at large and in complete contrast to his promises when he ran for office.

Trump Continues To Be A Threat To The US Public Education was first seen on The Brand Infiltration Blog

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Devastating Amazon Destruction Continues

The world is filled with natural wonders that have been around for centuries. They often served as extensive ecosystems where various species thrived and coexisted (not always peacefully) for years. But as modern advancements continue to flourish, it has a negative impact on the natural world as technology takes the place of what used to be natural spaces, thereby displacing many animal species, contributing to pollution, and increasing our carbon footprint that hastens climate change. It's a problem many folks are talking about.

Skyscrapers are all over big cities right now. Even nearby suburbs are transformed into sprawling residential communities to accommodate the world’s growing population. The need for natural and energy resources increases because there are more mouths to feed now, etc. But there are last frontiers that remain untarnished by modern living. They are often rainforest tucked away from the public and continue to provide food and shelter to different animals that you might not have even set sight on even in zoos. The Amazon is among the first to come to mind. One can only picture out snakelike rivers and lush trees and vegetations when they hear the word Amazon.

Norway has issued a blunt threat to Brazil that if rising deforestation in the Amazon rainforest is not reversed, its billion-dollar financial assistance will fall to zero. The leaders of the two nations meet in Oslo on Friday.

The oil-rich Scandinavian nation has provided $1.1bn to Brazil’s Amazon fund since 2008, tied to reductions in the rate of deforestation in the world’s greatest rainforest. The destruction of forests by timber and farming industries is a major contributor to the carbon emissions that drive climate change and Norway views protecting the Amazon as vital for the whole world.

The rate of deforestation in the Amazon fell steadily from 2008 to 2014, an “impressive achievement” which had a “very positive impact” on Brazil and the world, according to Vidar Helgesen, Norway’s environment minister.

(Via: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jun/22/norway-issues-1bn-threat-brazil-rising-amazon-destruction)

Unfortunately, the Amazon has been suffering in silence because of irresponsible human activities. Deforestation by the farming and timber industries is a big problem for all because they not only cut down trees but increase carbon emission that fuels global warming. We can’t afford to lose more natural spaces in the name of progress or not care about the state of the environment and treat it like a big dump because it is us who will eventually suffer.

To meet energy needs, economic developers in South America have proposed 428 hydroelectric dams, with 140 currently built or under construction, in the Amazon basin—the largest and most complex network of river channels in the world, which sustains the highest biodiversity on Earth. The rivers and surrounding forests are the source of 20 percent of the planet's fresh water and valuable ingredients used in modern medicine.

While these hydroelectric dams have been justified for providing renewable energy and avoiding carbon emissions, little attention has been paid to the major disturbances dams present to the Amazon floodplains, rainforests, the northeast coast of South America and the regional climate, the researchers said.

Rivers in the Amazon basin move like a dance, exchanging sediments across continental distances to deliver nutrients to "a mosaic of wetlands," said Edgardo Latrubesse, UT Austin geography and the environment professor and lead author of the study. Sediment transported by rivers provides nutrients that sustain wildlife, contribute to the regional food supplies and modulate river dynamics that result in high habitat and biotic diversity for both aquatic and nonaquatic organisms.

(Via: https://phys.org/news/2017-06-hydroelectric-jeopardize-amazon-future.html)

Amazon is actually in a vulnerable state right now because there are various threats to its existence. From deforestation, poaching, and now the presence of these dams can mess up Amazon’s natural order and impact various animals that thrive in the area. Mother Nature may eventually strike back at us if we don’t protect the environment while we still can.

But despite our best interests, let us not forget that whatever protective measures we adopt should be well-integrated to disrupt as little of the natural system as possible and let nature run its course. The more we intervene, the worse it is for the environment and everyone else living in it. To limit the damage, let us educate everyone about environment-friendly approaches they can adopt in their everyday lives to reduce the injury the planet has to endure.

The following blog article Devastating Amazon Destruction Continues was first published on https://www.brandinfiltration.com

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iPad Failed To Deliver Its eBook Promise

Technology is all over our modern world. Wherever you look, there is some sort of modern tech contrivance that promises you the moons and the stars if you can afford to pay its high price tag. Our society has gone so far in terms of these technological advancements and it has basically changed the way people live today. Some people take it to a higher level by customizing their own tech.

When the iPad was launched, its makers from Apple dreamed of transforming the news and publishing industry through the app, The Daily. The Daily offers an interactive version of a news publication that features equally interactive videos, charts, and other tech treats along with superior journalism from high caliber reporters and journalists.

It was the first sign that the promise of the iPad — that it would upend industries like book publishing, education, the news media, and even video entertainment — would not come to pass. iPad sales have been in free fall since 2013. Ebook sales are plummeting by double-digit percentages as print books show a surprising renewed growth. Digital publishers have found more success on Facebook and other digital platforms, not tying their futures to one gadget. And despite a push to reinvent textbook publishing, Apple failed to make a dent in an industry controlled by big publishers.

"The role of the iPad was probably vaguer than any product Apple launched," said Jan Dawson, chief analyst at Jackdaw Research. "It wasn’t well defined."

(Via: http://www.businessinsider.com/what-happened-to-the-ipads-promise-2017-6)

Unfortunately, The Daily ceased to operate barely two years after its launch. Since 2013, iPad sales have significantly gone down along with that of e-Book while print book production and sales are making a comeback. The iPad failed to conquer that market but Apple insists that this handy device has more to offer. Will the iPad ever be good or competitive enough to replace laptops as what Apple claims it is capable of doing?

And for a while, it seemed to work as planned. The iPad sold at a faster rate than even the iPhone had, peaking at an estimated 26 million units in 2014’s first quarter.

Since then, though, the market has largely stagnated, with sales dipping below ten million in last year’s fourth quarter. The’ve since rebounded, goosed by the introductions of the 12.9-inch iPad Pro and an updated version of the 7.9-inch iPad mini. But The Daily is long gone, along with the most of the publishing industry’s hopes for tablet salvation.

Just about the only ones who must be happy with the current state of affairs are the major book publishers; antitrust or not, prices of their e-books are markedly higherthan they were back when Amazon’s Kindle was the only game in town.

(Via: http://observer.com/2016/03/the-failed-promise-of-apples-ipad/)

It is not just iPad sales that are now down in a slump but as well as that of Android tablets in general. There are a lot of factors that contributed to this continuing decline and can likely be attributed to the increasing screen size of smartphones, both in iOS and Android. With their bigger smartphones, consumers no longer have to purchase a second device if they can do it all with their current mobile unit. There is little difference between the two content-wise. So why shell out more money when you can just bring with you one device with all the same features, even more actually considering you can always call and text using any

iPad sales have greatly suffered and were never able to replace Macs or PCs when it comes to man’s computing needs. But while the sales of e-Books are going down, online blogging is gaining in popularity and has become a lucrative career for individuals with the skill for writing. Whether it is a beauty, travel, or health blog among others, there is surely an audience out there waiting for your next story on whatever tech device they are using.

iPad Failed To Deliver Its eBook Promise is available on Brand Infiltration Blog

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