#education/mental health/childcare/experience etc

[steeleyespan]

people who work long term in a supermarket (including me) are always so insane genuinely a comforting and grounding experience. like yeah me and my gang maladjusted 40+ year old weirdos who couldny get a job anywhere else against the world

[seancosy]

I’ve been thinking about this for a while. In my opinion, children are the most oppressed class on the planet.

We subject children to experiences that would be considered outrageous to force an adult into. But because they’re young, kids don’t get a say. I’ve worked in hospitals for years so I’ve seen a lot of this first-hand, but I’m sure everyone can think of similar examples from their own lives.

Ways in which we treat kids poorly:

Physical assault in the form of ‘corporal punishment’ is acceptable in most parts of the world.

Depriving children of medical care. E.g. anti vaxxer parents; parents/governments withholding gender affirming care; parents refusing to let their child be treated for mental illness due to stigma or indifference.

In recent years, children’s exposure to safe and engaging social environments (AKA ‘third spaces’) has declined, leading to a generation of ‘iPad kids’. Neighbourhoods are isolated, polluted and traffic-heavy, so a lot of kids can’t play outside any more. Alarmist ‘stranger danger’ campaigns and the rise of nuclear family structures have stifled kids’ ability to have spontaneous social interactions with extended family or neighbours in areas like parks, shopping malls, etc. Kids are basically stuck at home unless a parent decides otherwise. If you did this to an adult, it would be criminal.

The nuclear family model puts pressure on parents to be perfect role models and carers 100% of the time. Which is what children deserve, but is an unrealistic expectation for parents; a paradox. In the past, responsibility for childcare was simply shared between multiple adults, who weren’t necessarily all immediate family members or even blood relations.

Bodily mutilation. We cannot perform medical procedures on adults without their consent. But circumcision, unnecessary intersex surgery, female genital mutilation, and ear piercings are commonly accepted cultural practices to perform on unconsenting children.

Neglecting to provide children with 3 healthy meals a day. Most children are exposed to foods that are calorie-rich and nutrient-poor. This is pretty much universal: blame lies with junk food corporations, advertisers, governments, school districts, and parents themselves. Little is being done to fix this. Poor dietary practices can create long term health issues and reduces educational attainment.

Exposing kids to toxins. This sounds silly at first, but I’ve seen multiple children who were hospitalised with bronchiolitis and asthma because their parents refused to stop smoking, or refused to get rid of a pet their child was allergic to. This applies on a broader scale too, as toxic chemicals are increasingly present in the air, food, and water supply. Governments largely do nothing to stop this.

There is no common standard for parenting, and no universal support structure to help children who are raised by inadequate parents. ‘Parents rights’ are considered more highly than children’s rights in many parts of the world. Many children are conceived by accident, meaning a lot of parents have inadequate preparation or support to handle the needs of their child, and there is little done by governments to help prevent children from being neglected; action only occurs once it’s too late. (Note that accidental parents can often be good parents, and intentional parents can still be abusive or neglectful.)

School performance is declining in many parts of the world, meaning kids are being deprived of quality education. This is multi factorial, but reasons include lowered standards for admission into teaching degrees, stagnant teacher salaries, larger class sizes, and heightened school bureaucracy reducing the time teachers have to actually teach. Parents are also working longer hours, so they have less time to spend helping their kids learn at home. (Which links back to iPad pacification.)

And a lot of these examples are amplified if a child has a disability, or comes from an oppressed cultural group. There is so much to fix.

[idigitizellp21]

IMPORTANCE OF EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION

A child is always considered to be as flexible, adaptable and mouldable as clay. These delicate minds need special attention and care for future success. This blog aims at sharing some insightful reasons why your child needs early childcare education before moving to a more advanced schooling environment.

Why is Early childhood development critical?

1. It capitalises on the rich brain development stage: Early Childhood Education and care fosters learning (be it the curriculum or life skills) from birth to 5 years old. This period is considered to be a fragile mental period for children as they pick up behaviours really soon. Hence, it is critical to nurture this period carefully as these learnings can act as building blocks to a bright future. Therefore. An early Childhood Education institute aims to deliver quality learning that can help them achieve their full potential. Additionally, Research in the field of neuroscience and child development has indeed shown that a significant portion of brain development occurs in the early years of life. Specifically, about 80% of a child’s brain development happens before the age of 5. During this period, the brain undergoes rapid growth and establishes vital neural connections that form the foundation for learning, behaviour, and health throughout life. This early stage of development is highly influenced by a child’s environment, experiences, and interactions. Positive and stimulating experiences, such as responsive caregiving, nurturing relationships, and appropriate stimulation, can promote healthy and rapid brain development.

2. Lays a great foundation: Kookaburra lays the foundation for not only good health and nutrition but also encourages learning and educational success. This happens by habituating little ones to good food habits and timely eating along with being hungry for reasons that inspire positive curiosity within them. Additionally, we also stimulate social skills. Critical basic social skills like listening, sharing and waiting for your turn are nourished. Playtime acts as a booster for social skills development. This is because during playtime children express their emotions freely. For example: Joy on getting their favourite toy, happiness playing with friends, etc. Furthermore, Kookaburra is also known to form a strong base for STEM skills (where STEM stands for Science, Technology, Math and Engineering). Our robust curriculum is crafted in a manner that introduces the basics of STEM making it critically important at this young age to build a strong connection towards these subjects in higher school.

3. Exposure to diversity: When a child moves away from home to a school they get exposed to so many different kids from different homes and different cultures. Be it diversity in gender, socio-economic class or even race, it is critical to embrace it. Also, in an early child education and care setup, children get to play with many toys that are shared with other kids. This not only reinforces sharing but also encourages acceptance towards all around us.

4. Children learn from other children: It is as simple as watching us parents and imitating us. Children in school are constantly observing other children. They learn from a classroom setup acceptable social behaviours. For example: In early childcare education over and above the curriculum, children sit together to eat on a table and a chair, unlike many single-child families. They learn how to eat together with all their other friends making it an enjoyable yet nutritive experience. The cherry on the cake is, they eat without any distractions and is the best example of good habit imitation.

5. Acts as a bridge to formal schooling: Lastly, Kookaburra as an early child care and education institute/organisation acts as a bridge between early childcare education and primary schooling. A child often feels lost and underconfident if they are directly enrolled for formal education lacking the strong base of early child care education. Enrolling your young children in kindergarten facilitates their smooth transition into the formal school environment. Over and above the smooth transition, a child is backed with social skills and fits well into a new educational environment with ease.

Helping you choose the early childhood education

Selecting an appropriate early education institution for your child is of utmost importance. It should be a place where your child forms emotional connections and perceives it as a lifeline. At Kookaburra, education is a source of happiness and teaching is a delight. Here, your child learns essential skills such as self-eating and gains exposure to a diverse and nutritious range of food. In addition to the fundamental curriculum, the focus is also on developing social skills, encouraging sharing, and preparing the child for the transition to a more advanced school environment.

[capricores]

✨ the signs and work (careers, needs in workplace, work-mindset, etc)

♡ check your sun, mars, ascendant, midheaven and sixth house signs. keep in mind your entire chart, especially planets in the sixth/tenth house can hugely change the expression of this. sagittarius mars + midheavens tend to hate routine, but if you have a taurus sun/moon, you’re likely to prefer routine and be more comfortable with it. the aspects to these planets and your midheaven/ascendant can entirely change things too. this is a general post. 

i also recommend checking the position of your midheaven ruler and the sign/house it is in (ruler of the midheaven is simply the planet that rules the signs of your midheaven: sun=leo, moon=cancer, mercury=gemini/virgo, venus=libra/taurus, mars=aries/scorpio, jupiter=sagittarius/pisces, saturn=capricorn/aquarius, neptune=pisces, uranus=aquarius, pluto=scorpio). so if you have a gemini midheaven, look to what sign your mercury is in and read for that as well.

reasons for choosing these placements: sixth house represents routine, habits and service; it will more-so highlight how you feel about and approach day-to-day work and serving others. midheaven is your ideal career and ambitions in the workplace; it’s also your image while at work. ascendant + sun both blend together to create one’s general temperament and personality; as well as outlook on life. these two placements highlight hobbies, desires, wants; and therefore influence career needs and work habits. mars is your drive, ambition, energy, etc; therefore showing up in the workplace strongly.

bite-sized version (see the read more for full sign explanations)

aries: careers that allow independence and decision-making. careers in the outdoors. high-energy, physical careers; careers that allow them to use their hands. entrepreneurship is ideal as they like to have complete control over their projects and schedules. jobs with competitive factors will be most motivating to them. they do really well in high-stress careers that require fast-action. sales, any sort of business ventures, management, directing, athletics, construction, welding, etc.

taurus: careers that offer consistency, stability and security. careers that allow for independence. entrepreneurship; taureans aren’t good at taking orders. anything involving the environment, animals, or children. coffee shops, bakeries, childcare, environmental activism, tree nursery staff, animal rescue, etc. taurus placements hold high levels of creativity and are very good at curating styles that appeal to wide varieties: therefore design (fashion, interior - even food/graphic design) based careers are ideal.

gemini: intellectual stimulation, flexibility and frequent change are absolute requirements in gemini careers. without frequent mental stimulation, gemini placements get anxious and want to quit. it’s hard for them to stick to jobs that don’t offer lots of change, variety and difficulties. engineering, computer programming, math-based careers, etc. geminis are excellent communicators are thrive in careers involving writing, public speaking, sales, etc. the environment and people gemini works with are as important as the job itself for them. gemini needs to do multiple things at once; careers involving multi-tasking are essential. routine, predictable careers are the enemy.

cancer: cancers need stability and control in their career. they’re very nostalgic and can often be seen carrying on family businesses or pursuing careers influenced by their families. research & history based careers are great for cancers (historian, librarian, scientific research, detective, etc). cancers do well connecting with others; careers that allow genuine interaction are great (psychologist, social worker, human resources, etc). careers that allow them control. the environment of a cancer’s work space is extremely important: they usually do best working at home. careers relating to food. careers connecting to childcare.

leo: careers need to allow them recognition and praise; attention via career is important (social media, tv personalities, etc). careers that allow a creative outlet with high-energy; but still offer stability and consistency. competitive environments are best for leo. working with children, athletic coaching, fashion, sales, marketing, and so forth are all great paths. management positions or running their own business is ideal for leos who don’t take well to criticism or direction. leos love being social and enjoy careers that give them a social outlet. analytical careers pair surprisingly well with leo; i’ve noticed they’re often drawn to and successful with paths relating to computer science & engineering.

virgo: similar to gemini, careers that are fast-paced and challenging are essential. mental stimulation is an absolute must, and the most important factor for a virgo. careers revolving around healing, health and nutrition fit well with virgo. working with animals and the environment. analytical, logic-forward careers that requirement complex solutions and quick thinking. careers involving communication, especially written, are ideal. virgos are excellent with small details and do well with careers that focus on these. writing, computer programming, chemistry, engineering, teaching, vet tech, dietician, doctor, surgeon, etc.

libra: careers heavily connected to aesthetics: libras require beauty in every aspect of life, especially career (fashion, interior & graphic design; any art-related field; music, etc). careers loaded with social interactions, libras get drained and bored in a career that’s isolating and lonely. ilbras are charming and do well in positions like sales that utilize this charm for personal gain. careers that require a strong sense of justice and morals (law, judge, detective, managerial positions, etc).

scorpio: competitive, target based careers that give them power. behind-the-scenes careers that give them recognition but still allows their privacy. creative -heavy careers such as writing, art, fashion. careers connecting to the occult (ie: astrology/divination). careers that allow them to utilize their unmatchable investigation skills (detective, lawyer, scientist, etc). careers that give them flexibility, yet stability; the only change they want to experience at work is self-controlled. scorpios prefer to work alone than in groups; careers of solitude or ones that allow them to control others are best.

sagittarius: careers that allow them to channel their natural educator & humanitarian role (teacher, philosopher, lawyer, philanthropist, etc). careers that allow them to travel as part of their job (pilot, travel guide, trip planner, translator, etc). careers with huge amount of flexibility, frequent change; careers that give them independence and allow for constant growth, learning and expansion. they never want to be fully “comfortable”. athletic, physical careers; careers in the outdoors (ie: athletic coach, sports teams, etc). 

capricorn: careers that allow for complete autonomy and control. entrepreneurship was made for capricorns. careers that promise stability, security, and a laid-out climb to the top. careers heavily based in logic & analyzing; finance-based careers are also ideal. financial analysis, architecture, CFO positions, etc. working with animals and being connected to the earth are beneficial. management positions are ideal, although capricorns tend to do everything themselves regardless of who’s working for them. careers that involve a lot of careful planning and thinking ahead; routine.

aquarius: careers involving music and/or art (nearly every aqua placement i meet is talented in + passionate about some artistic outlet, channelling these interests into careers is beneficial). careers involving technology, science, and lots of analyzing/logic. computer science, engineering, mathematician, data analyst, etc. careers that give them longer periods of isolation with healthy amounts of socialization in between; they require a good balance. careers that give them independence, yet structure; careers that change on their own terms only. 

pisces: careers with complete flexibility: routines, heavy structure and similar are the enemy. careers that allow a channel for healing and/or spirituality (divination, astrology, nutrition, psychology, etc). careers relating to philosophy, humanitarianism, teaching; much like sagittarius - anything that allows frequent growth and expansion. careers heavy with travel and new experiences. careers that allow a creative outlet are best for pisces (design, photography, filmography, music), they also do well in social based careers such as being influencers or tv stars. avoid careers with rough environments as they’re the sign most likely to absorb negative energies.

♡ mutable signs (pisces, sagittarius, gemini, virgo):

these signs have busy minds. they always need to be moving, and require constant mental stimulation. work without mental stimulation will quite literally drive them up the wall. if their work traps them into non-challenging (gemini/virgo) or routine (pisces/sagittarius) environments, they’ll not only want to quit, but likely be negatively impacted in terms of energy and mental health. if you have strong mutable placements, it’s important for you to find a flexible and stimulating career; a career with a lot of socializing is often preferable as well. they require lots of encouragement and praise in their work to stay committed and on-track.

the ideal careers for mutable signs are ones that allow for stimulation and change (virgo is more comfortable with routine, gemini is *okay* with routine; but both requirement frequent challenges in the workplace to stay satisfied, they need to be “solving” things). mutable signs don’t mind working behind the scenes, or under the direction of someone else, so long as they’re in an exciting environment that allows them to fully utilize their wit, creativity and quick problem solving skills. 

it’s very important for mutable signs to become friends with those in their workplace (especially pisces and gemini placement individuals). because of their constant need for mental (and also social) stimulation, it’s vital for them to be able to form friendships (not necessarily deep/close friendships, but at least surface level) in the workplace and have a frequent social outlet while working. mutable signs are also extremely susceptible to their environment and those around them (as are the water signs), so a toxic workplace will have a significantly harsher impact on their well-being than other signs would experience. their mental and physical health can both be immensely affected when they’re in toxic environments around toxic people (of course this is true for anyone, but mutables are drained by this on a whole other level). mutable signs can easily love a job they would normally hate, if the environment is positive and fun for them; and vice versa.

✧ sagittarius and pisces: no matter how much these two signs love their job, they will still hate their job. pisces and sagittarians tend to hate work. this isn’t because they’re lazy, or incapable of putting in hard work; because they’re more than capable, and do it frequently. but to them, work, especially routine work (nine to fives, forty hours a week, etc), limit them. pisces and sagittarius share jupiter as their ruler; jupiter is all about expansion, growth and freedom. these signs hate being boxed in and tied down. they require living lives that allow for frequent growth. namely, pisces and sagittarius love to always be learning and bettering themselves, especially spiritually and philosophically. if they’re stuck in a career that limits their expansion; or lacks “abundance” when it comes to choices and growth, they’ll be extremely unsatisfied.

pisces and sagittarians are free spirits, and these placements (especially in the personal planets and as ascendant) love physical change; aka traveling. a job that allows them to travel, especially to other countries/long distances, will be ideal and fulfilling for them. creative outlets, educational paths, or any career relating to spirituality, philosophy or similar will be best for them. pisces do really well in careers related to healing and helping; sagittarians do really well in careers related to teaching. sagittarians, being fire signs, also require careers that keep them relatively physically active.

some suggested careers (pisces, sagittarius): travel-related (flight attendant, trip planner, etc), translation/interpretation, photography, arts, astrology, divination, food (chef, front of house, etc), teaching, medicine (namely naturopaths, nutrition, etc), motivational / public speaking, philanthropy 

✧ geminis and virgos: being mercury-ruled, these two signs need intellectual stimulation more than anyone else. they do not do well in monotonous or “easy/simple” jobs. although these two signs might not be as bothered by routine as their fellow mutable signs, they instead require a constantly challenging and stimulating environment. fast-paced, high-stress careers where they’re able to problem-solve and think on their feet are best for these two signs. although they have to be careful of overly stressful jobs and burning themselves out, due to their tendencies of overthinking, nervousness and how easily stressed they can get. it’s best for them to work in challenging environments, with kind and encouraging management, as to avoid any possible burnout or anxiety in the workplace.

again, thanks to their mercury influence, these signs have a way with words. anyone with strong gemini or virgo placements is bound to be great when it comes to writing and/or speaking. being an author is something those with either of these placements would really excel at. also, working in sales (mainly with gemini, virgo shyness and hermit habits may put them off of this career lol) is something gemini & virgo THRIVE in. they’re very good at speaking to others and swaying their opinions, so closing deals with people is a very easy and satisfying thing for them to do.

some suggested careers (gemini, virgo): computer science/technology fields, detective work, writing, research-based fields, nutrition/dietetics (virgo), sales (gemini), something with a lot of public speaking (but this likely freaks them out and makes them nervous- they are amazing at it though), event planning

some mutable careers (all/mixed): teaching, international relations, politics (sagittarius and gemini), music (pisces especially), comedy (gemini and sagittarius), marketing & sales, law, medical fields (virgo and pisces), travel & tourism, librarians/working in bookstores

♡ cardinal signs (aries, cancer, libra, capricorn):

these signs thrive most placed in roles of leadership and entrepreneurship. directing others and having control over their own actions and projects is most satisfying for these individuals. cancers and libras don’t mind working under the control of others, capricorn and aries do not do well in situations controlled or directed by others. however, capricorns and aries can handle working under others as long as they have a means for doing so (ie: they have some power over others at the same time, they’re awaiting a promotion, etc).

these signs are ambitious, initiators, and go-getters. they are the ones with the big ideas and the detailed plans of how things will go. they enjoy motivating others and seeing others succeed, so they make for wonderful managers. managerial positions are great for these signs, since they can struggle a bit with following through/staying on task, having a role where they create the ideas/tasks and have someone else finish it is more ideal.

✧ aries and capricorn: these signs, far more than other cardinals, really do better working alone or in positions of power. entrepreneurship is more ideal for these two than probably any other sign. additionally, both aries and capricorn are very connected to the physical realm. aries does really well in physically-active careers (manual labor, athletics, etc), and they also really love the outdoors. capricorn, being so connected to the earth, also loves any sort of outdoors/earth-connected career. jobs that allow them to be outside in nature, or directly working with nature, will do them both great.

these two signs are very good at managing and directing, however their styles can be a little harsh. they also tend to have the attitude where they’d rather do everything themselves so that it’s done “right”. because of this, it’s best for them to work independently at their own business, or to have someone working as a buffer of communication between them and employees when it comes to instructing and critiquing. they do, however, do very well as trainers, since they’re very to-the-point and enjoy allowing others to shadow them/vice versa. being trainers allows them to let out their overly picky/specific side for the better.

these two especially thrive in any career that allows them to showcase their straight-forward and analytical natures. fields such as law, are so amazing for both of these signs. aries loves the challenge of a field like law, and probably enjoys the ability to “argue” for work. capricorn’s interest will be held by the analytical, research based aspects of law, as well as the ability to “argue” for work. both signs enjoy being right, competitiveness, and independence, so fields similar to law are perfect. 

both signs can also handle high-stress and high-pressure environments with ease, quite possibly more than any other signs. they also need frequent challenge and competitiveness in careers, so any sort of job that hits these requirements would be best. if they don’t feel as if they’re climbing a ladder, or achieving a visible, measurable level of success (ie: hitting/exceeding targets), they won’t feel fulfilled.

some suggested careers (aries, capricorn): entrepreneurship, instructing/coaching (athletics, etc), athletics (aries), project managers/management in general, conservationists, lawyers, food service, finance/accounting, any analytical/logic-based careers (capricorn), architecture, computer programming, sales (aries; they have the energy + charisma for this), marketing, real estate (aries), physical therapy, chiropractor, personal trainer (aries)

✧ cancer and libra: one important thing to mention for these two signs is they require a comfortable, positive work sign; almost to the extent that mutable signs do. their work environments have to be comfort zones, much like their homes, or they’ll struggle a lot in their career despite how much they enjoy the job itself. the people they work with and space they work in are extremely important to them. if they work from home, it’s vital they have a comfortable, well-decorated home office in order to be fully productive and in their “zones”.

these two signs have a very unique way of managing. they’re very good at getting people to do things, without realizing they’ve been influenced to do something. both of these signs can get along with nearly anyone, and have very warm, nurturing natures; which makes them highly successful in roles ranging from management to sales and anything of the likes. their social skills are impressive, as are their problem-solving skills, which makes them well-suited for fields like human resources, law (mainly libra), psychology, social work, etc. both do well in customer service and marketing because of their people skills.

the difference between these two lies in their public preferences. libra is a very public sign, and also the sign of justice. journalist, social media influencer/tv personality, publicist, judge/lawyer, and fashion design are some potential careers that align well with libra’s needs for recognition and admiration. on the other hand, cancer much prefers a more private life, although still enjoys (genuine) interaction with others. due to their nurturing personalities and creativity, cancers thrive in careers relating to medicine, food, design (especially interior, architecture, etc - anything related to the home as cancer is the sign connected with the *home*), and so forth.

these two signs are also highly creative and thrive in roles that allow for this expression. libra specifically thrives in fields like fashion or graphic design, cancer thrives in fields like interior design or baking/cooking. 

some suggested careers (cancer, libra): law (libra), fashion (libra), interior design, graphic design (libra), childcare (cancer), psychology, social work, medicine (cancer), chef/baker/similar (cancer), real estate, sales & marketing (libra), journalist (libra), publicist (libra), architect (cancer), customer service, social media (influencer, marketing, etc), acting, game design/development (cancers especially - they seem to be so good with video games)

some cardinal careers (all/mixed): entrepreneurship, design, development & research, finance/accounting, architecture, lawyers, judges, detectives (especially libra & cancer), real estate, sales & marketing, management, human resources (cancer/libra)

♡ fixed signs (taurus, leo, scorpio, aquarius):

these signs do best in positions of total autonomy. working under the discretion of others is not ideal for these individuals. with creative minds and a need for independence and power; these individuals also tend to do best in fields relating to art, or creation of some sort. aquarius and taurus can handle working under others without much power, but leo and scorpio do not do well when given directions (they can handle it, but they don’t like it). it’s against fixed sign nature to follow orders. however, fixed signs do generally enjoy routine, so they won’t mind working under someone if it provides them consistency and stability. they might even skip on desired promotions, new/better job opportunities and more due to their fears/dislike of change (especially taurus).

fixed signs have this unmatchable resilience when it comes to work. these are the people that will easily put in 70+ hours a week with minimal complaints. they’re excellent at following through with things and sticking to their jobs/tasks, even when they hate them. fixed signs are also the only modality that’s consistent and excellent with following through. these signs have a bit of trouble getting started, though, and often need a push and help to get things going. 

leo and taurus need stability and consistency in their career, whatever it may end up being. these two do not do well with change; and don’t usually like jobs that require them to frequently adapt or start new routines. aquarius and scorpio on the other hand, thrive within change; and are more than used to adapting to sudden, significant changes. these two, however, still prefer a more stable routine; as they tend to fear/dislike change that is not self-inflicted. the biggest things for fixed signs are stable, consistent careers. they also need careers that allow them power and individualism. aquarius and leo specifically need careers that allow them to “show off” or get recognition, preferably from a larger audience.

scorpios & leos thrive with incentives and praise, so careers that offer bonus pays, targets, and promotions with set goals will motivate them a lot more in work. any sort of competitive work will get those two signs going. aquarians however are more indifferent to these things, they tend to be more detached with the material benefits of work. taureans usually dislike these types of careers, they want work with consistency: consistent pay, consistent hours, etc.

✧ leo and aquarius: these signs require attention and recognition for their work more than anyone. they’ll do behind the scenes work if they need to, but generally they enjoy being the center of other’s attentions (aquarius won’t admit this though). these two signs have very unique ideas, and are bustling with creativity. more than anything, they need a career that allows creative expression and individuality. they don’t do well being boxed in and restricted in their endeavors. most of all, these two need careers that are challenging, consistent yet flexible, and allow both social and creative outlets. 

aquarius is the sign relating to technology, so of course they will naturally thrive in technology-related careers. aquarians have busy minds and the patience to work out complex problems; so a career in computer programming, or something similar, would do them well. graphic design and architecture are two other careers that come to mind. engineering (but something more like music engineering, that allows them that creative outlet) is another great choice. aquarians are also humanitarians at heart, so charity-related careers, or careers of similar nature (ie: social worker) would be great for them. careers with a lot of either problem-solving/complex issues, humanitarian causes, or music/art are best for aquarians.

leos are natural born entertainers and story-tellers. they also can fit well into many social environments, and are so naturally charming it’s easy for them to get on anyone’s good side. because of this, any social-heavy career is great for them (motivational speaking, writing, acting, sales, marketing, etc). leos also have big hearts and tend to love children and/or animals, so i always recommend childcare or animal care to these types of leos. at the end of the day, despite leo’s need to be independent/not heavily controlled at work, they do love that social interaction that can come with working. leos are also bursting with creativity, and tend to have affinities with art, so any art-field is a great career selection for them. as a fire sign, leos also thrive in physically-active careers (athletics, manual labor, etc) that keep them up and moving.

some suggested careers (leo, aquarius): music (especially aqua), fashion-related fields; especially design, ANY sort of artistic field (design, painting, acting, etc), childcare (leo), marketing, sales, engineering, charitable organizations (aquarius), computer programming/science (aquarius), writing (leo), social media (marketing, management, influencer)

✧ scorpio and taurus: these signs don’t mind being behind the scenes, so long as they still have significant power in their work environment and control over themselves. overall, they’d typically rather work for themselves than someone else, they truly hate answering to others and generally don’t like being disturbed/overly social at work (it drains them, and they usually find it annoying/disrupts their work flow). i suggest more independent-work type of careers for these signs, or careers that allow them to instruct others on what to do, not the other way around.

both signs are very intense and investigative, and once they start something they have a laser-like focus that will help them see through a project to the end. scorpios specifically need careers that allow THEM flexibility and the ability to enact change when they see fit. taureans, however, need careers with minimal change, including self-inflicted. taurus requires stability and consistency more than any other sign in the zodiac, especially at work. 

taureans have a very nurturing energy, including at work, and they have a natural connection to the earth/environment. because of this, i always see taureans fitting so well into careers involving the environment (think anything from environmental law to conservationist to florist, etc). personally, both taurus and scorpio i can see running adorable little flower shops, crystal shops or cafes and it would be too perfect for them. these two signs are usually bookworms too so i feel like working in a bookstore would be so perfect for them both. scorpios really do need that power and slight competition in work. they need to be challenged more than any of the other fixed signs, or they will get extremely bored. i often find scorpios thrive most in unfamiliar environments, so sudden switches in work may be a comforting thing for them.

some suggested careers (scorpio, taurus): investigator/detective (scorpio), research-based fields (scorpio), interior design, fashion, food-related field (taurus), childcare (taurus), architecture, divination + astrology (scorpio), office jobs (taurus - but more a WFH environment), work from home jobs in general (they don’t like leaving the house), working with animals/rescuing, environmental law (taurus), law (scorpio), environmental activism (taurus), conservationist (taurus), librarian/bookstore jobs

some ideal fixed careers (all/mixed): tattoo artist (this career always comes to mind with scorpio/taurus especially), design, any sort of arts-related career, managerial roles, entrepreneurship, athletic instructor/similar (leo & taurus), farming (taurus & leo), florist/anything working with plants (taurus & scorpio), childcare (leo & taurus), competitive environments (leo & scorpio)

[thesociologicalcinema]

26 Ways to Be in the Struggle

This list is designed to celebrate all the ways that our communities can engage in liberation. For a range of reasons, there are and always have been folks who cannot attend rallies and protests but who continue to contribute to ending police and state violence against black people. People seek justice and support liberation in an array of ways, yet their bodies, their spirits, and their lives may not allow them to be in the streets. We believe that we will win. And we need the presence of everyone in the movement to do so. We affirm that all contributions are political, militant, and valued. By and for those in our communities who can't be in the streets, we offer a list of concrete ways that we are in the movement, and that we are supporting liberation every day. We see you. We are you. See you in the struggle.

1. Host or attend a Know Your Rights Training to educate yourself, your loved ones, and your community on their rights when interacting with the police. Here are a few organizations, mostly in New York City, that host these trainings and/or have resources available on their website you can download and use: - Justice Committee, justicecommittee.org - Malcolm X Grassroots Movement, mxgm.org - Streetwise And Safe (NYC), streetwiseandsafe.org - FIERCE (NYC), fiercenyc.org - CAAAV Organizing Asian Communities (NYC), caaav.org - People's Justice (NYC), peoplesjustice.org - Communities United for Police Reform (NYC), changethenypd.org - Arab Resource and Organizing Center (Bay Area), araborganizing.org - National Lawyers Guild (national), nlg.org 2. Fundraise online, donate business proceeds, or create events for organizations that work on police violence, police accountability, and against the criminalization of black communities. The groups listed above are a great place to start. In addition, national organizations need support, including: - Black Lives Matter, blacklivesmatter.com - Ferguson Action, fergusonaction.com - Ferguson National Response Network, fergusonresponse.tumblr.com - Black Youth Project 100, byp100.org

3. Spread the word on rallies, actions, events, and demands through social media, text, email, phone, and in person. Here are a few orgs and ways to plug in and share info: - Justice League NYC has a list of demands for police accountability at gatheringforjustice.org - Communities United for Police Reform is calling for 11 Days of Action for Eric Garner from Wednesday 12/10/14 until Sunday 12/20/14: thsstopstoday.org - Use hashtags when sharing, and search these hashtags for more info: #BlackLivesMatter #ThisStopsToday #Ferguson #ICantBreathe #EricGarner 4. Offer to be the emergency contact for people attending marches and rallies. Get the person's full legal name and date of birth. Make sure to know the numbers for the National Lawyers Guild (nlg.org), Central Booking, local precincts, and local hospitals. Check in by text once an hour so that you're aware of their whereabouts and current protest conditions. If possible, also try and know whether folks require any medications that can't be skipped in a 24-48 hour time period.

5. Attend planning meetings or strategy calls for anti-police violence and anti-criminalization organizations. In addition to the organizations that we're listed, here are a few anti-criminalization organizations that are great resources: - Critical Resistance (national), criticalresistance.org - INCITE (national), incite=national.org 6. Support or organize healing justice events. Adrienne Maree Brown, Adaku Utah, and Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha and Susan Raffo have created a list of healing practices to sustain care in protest here (bit.ly/13dugxA). Create space to facilitate these practices with others. 7. Cook a pre- or post-march meal or pack food for people attending protests, marches, and events.

8. Coordinate or provide childcare for people attending marches, rallies, and events. Be sure to make plans for extenuating circumstances, such as arrests. Keep in mind that it may not make sense to offer childcare support unless there's a strong relationship between the childcare providers and the children whose parents/caregivers are marching. This is important so childcare providers can continue to support if children are separated from their parents for a longer period than expected. Try to plan for childcare to take place in a home, not at the marches/rallies themselves. This will be important should childcare providers need to make arrangements for overnight support. 9. Create and share art, music, poetry, and stories that speak on issues relating to police violence, criminalization of black communities, social justice, stories and images of resistance, solidarity, and resiliency. Create new chants, make signs, reach out to organizers to see what materials they need designed. Share and support the work of black artists and people of color who are impacted by these struggles. Cultural work is resistance!

10. Create a home base for the evening, where folks who are protesting can take physical and emotional breaks indoors with others. A home base can also be a great space to gather people working as emergency contacts or doing other types of remote support for protesters. 11. Continue to reflect on your privilege, power, and identity if you're white or a non-black person of color. Look at the history of racism, race being used as a wedge issue (i.e., API communities), and of aspiring ally-ship or solidarity between your folks and black communities. Find like-identified folks to workshop with, and have conversations with family, friends, co-workers, and community members to hep build awareness and solidarity in the service of ending anti-black racism. Utilize your online media presence to reflect lack perspectives. Be a conduit on social media where black activists are speaking, engaging, agitating, and showing up. Showing up as a non-black POC or white person can mean supporting to multiply the message.

12. Be grounding or self-care buddy: breathe with someone before they leave for the march. Help them create a post-march grounding plan. Give them regular text check-ins from your home, and friendly reminders of support to drink water, eat, ground themselves, etc. Send sweet emojis or whatever else would help the person marching, and ask the person to text you when they're home safe from the march. 13. Offer to help create a safety plan for friends who have physical pain, varying mobilities, and/or mental health concerns and want to participate in the march. This might include: - what they might need before and after the action(s) - self-care boundaries such as pre-determining amount of time spent on the street - being clear about what might help prevent or delay pain or anxiety - what signs to be aware of re: onset of pain or mental health challenges - making agreements ahead of time to give themselves permission to exit early upon first signs of onset - what they will do/where they will go if triggered or hurt and what will be comforting post-march that could be arranged ahead of time. 14. Create intentional spiritual space. If you have a spiritual practice or practice community this is a great opportunity to come together and set an intention for your work together toward supporting the movement. That could look like opening the space up for others join you in meditation, prayer, chanting, singing, centering, Jo Kata, etc. If you have physical space where you practice, this could also include opening the doors to invite in protesters who need rest, water, food, warmth.

15. Volunteer. When organizations on the frontlines are using most of their resources to get people out on the streets, they need volunteers to provide IT support, collect supplies for demonstrations, answer phones, do data entry, upload, organize, and archive documentation. Check with organizations about volunteer opportunities and needs. 16. Work with teachers. If you're an experienced educator, write curriculum and support other educators in talking about these issues. Host a conference call with teachers to strategize on how to talk with students about what's happening and how they can get involved. Especially consider organizing trainings and teach-ins on the real herstory of Black Lives Matter: thefeministwire.com/2014/10/blackliesmatter-2. 17. Share skills. If you are experienced in organizing demonstrations, facilitating trainings on community security or marshalling, being a medic, providing jail support, or being a legal observer, then host trainings, create educational documents, and support people one-on-one in building their skills. For example, if you know how to create medic or care kits for people in the streets, organize a kit-making party or use your resources to put a few together to send out with trained folks during protests.

18. Make space to process. If these are your communities, hold processing moments for black, queer, trans, and migrant community members who are unable to attend protests for any reason, but who are deeply affected and policed. 19. Hold space and/or organize events centering the experiences of black people on probation or parole to talk about their experiences of police violence and surviving state supervision, incarceration, and state violence. 20. Skype, text, visit, and show love for those who are in pain, injured in protest, and/or managing trauma from tear gas, police brutality, physical, and/or emotional violence. Follow up with the community member by affirming their needs and creating support mechanisms. Remember that state violence also impacts our spirit.

21. Help amplify the protests by circulating breaking news visuals of actions, protests, and events from those in the streets to reach a wider audience. If asked, serve as an off-site spokesperson or media contact for protests. Offer to help write advisories and media releases, if needed. 22. Translate documents, media, and support being circulated about protests to international press and other outlets if you are multilingual. 23. Support people with disabilities and multiple cognitive experience by writing captions for images to convey messages in photos and footage. This amplifies these messages and increases information sharing. 24. Attend and/or circulate events/panels that are central to black perspectives and challenging anti-black racism. Promote these events and support those around you to incorporate these issues and experiences into their own events.

25. Start conversations. Bring conversations about the importance of black lives and ending criminalization and state state violence against black communities into your workplace, school, library, church, family. 26. Take care of yourself! Self-care is a revolutionary act. The criminalization of black communities, police violence against black people, and the devaluing of black lives is traumatizing. These instances and the constant deluge of information cannot only cause trauma but also bring up vicarious trauma and sap our individual and collective energy to create change. Step away from the computer or the TV and take time to remember what we're fighting for -- the people we love, and take time to call community. Allowing yourself to feel, express rage, cry and experience joy in these times is not only critical but essential. ------ Contributors: Piper Anderson, Kay Ulanday Barrett, Ejeris Dixon, Ro Garrido, Emi Kane, Bhavana Nancherla, Deesha Narichania, Sabelo Narasimhan, Amir Rabiyah, and Meejin Richart. Design by Alana Yu-lan Price.

[theclaravoyant]

Good You Can Do (AUS version)

It’s important at times like this that we don’t let our most vulnerable slip through the cracks - whether it be of the virus, or of the consequences (income and job losses, etc.). So I am compiling a list of charities that will be helping people who are vulnerable to COVID-19 and its impacts. I encourage people to add! (*note: this list is Australia focused, but I don’t mind if you add others - please be clear about where your charity operates if specific)

I know not everyone is in a position to give right now, but those of us that are will be critical to empowering some of these charities (and the people they help) to deal with this crisis. Please give if you can spare, and/or share.

EDIT: To stop this from clogging people’s dash I have put a cut below the general charities, but I have added more below the cut in the following categories:

Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Peoples

Refugees & Asylum Seekers

Health Workers & Essential Services

The Arts

Animal Welfare

-

GENERAL / MISC

Ozharvest - Australia’s leading food rescue organisation, they frequently work with supermarkets etc. to ensure edible food gets to people who need to eat. They have many branches throughout the country. You can donate money or food, or organise food drives here.

Foodbank Australia - Another food rescue organisation specialising (but not exclusively for) disaster relief eg. the recent bushfires. They have many branches throughout the country. You can volunteer, or donate money or food or services here.

Youth Off the Streets - is a non-denominational charity (Christian origin) that helps homeless youth and youth at risk in NSW with branches also in Brisbane and Melbourne. They offer accommodation and educational assistance as well as running Food Van, distributing hot meals to homeless people in need. You can purchase items from their shop, volunteer, or donate here.

The Kindness Factory - This organisation focuses on sharing and encouraging small acts of kindness and faith in humanity. They have launched a “Cart Buddies” program to help people who are self-isolating or otherwise at risk from COVID-19 be paired up with healthy people who are able and willing to shop for them. To sign up as a helper OR a helpee (they are looking for both!) email admin@kindnessfactory.com with your name, post code and suburb.

Royal Flying Doctor Service - provides healthcare and medical transport for rural & remote Australians nationwide.

-

ABORIGINAL & TORRES STRAIT ISLANDER PEOPLES

Derbarl Yerrigan Health Service - DYHS provides culturally secure primary health, mental health and dental services for Aboriginal families living right across the Perth metropolitan area.

Wungening Aboriginal Corporation - is an Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisation which provides culturally secure, confidential and free of  charge services to Aboriginal people in the Perth metropolitan area. Donate money here or drop food or goods at their East Perth office.

-

REFUGEES & ASYLUM SEEKERS

Asylum Seeker Resource Centre - based in Melbourne, the ASRC provides legal advocacy and case support, social support, social enterprise (jobs) and food assistance to refugees and asylum seekers within or coming into Australia. You can donate money or food/goods here.

RISE: Refugees, Survivors and Ex-Detainees - based in Melbourne, this is an organisation for & by refugees and ex-detainees of Australia’s immigration detention centres. They offer social, educational, recreational, and advocacy support for members as well as a food bank. Donate here or volunteer here.

CARAD: Centre for Asylum Seekers, Refugees and Detainees - based in Perth, CARAD independent, community-based organisation providing essential welfare and advocacy support to asylum seekers, refugees and detainees in Western Australia. Volunteer here or donate money or food/goods here.

Queer Sisterhood Project - An organisation comprised entirely of LGBTQI+ women with refugee and/or asylum seeker background in Australia. They are based in Sydney but doing their best as a small organisation to provide social & other support to people with this experience nationwide. They are running a Covid-specific fundraiser here.

-

HEALTH WORKERS & ESSENTIAL SERVICES SUPPORT

Adopt a Healthcare Worker - A grassroots effort to connect health workers with people who can offer support with childcare, grocery shopping etc. to help them cope with the long hours, stress etc. required of them at this time. There are currently pages for Perth/WA, Sydney, Regional NSW, QLD, Victoria & Tas

Frontliners - Based in Melbourne, this organisation pulls together the support of the community, enterprise, government, financial services and local business to send care packages to health care workers nationwide. Donate here.

-

THE ARTS

Support Act - Australia’s only charity delivering crisis relief services to artists, crew and music workers as a result of ill health, injury, a mental health problem, or some other crisis that impacts on their ability to work in music.

-

ANIMAL WELFARE

RSPCA - Nationwide charity protecting, promoting and enforcing animal welfare. You can adopt a wide variety of animals (including farm animals), volunteer, or donate here.

SAFE: Saving Animals From Euthanasia - Western Australia’s largest volunteer-based animal rescue and rehoming service using the foster care model - the Western Australian arm of Animal Welfare League Australia. They operate regionally too! You can adopt, foster, donate or volunteer here.

Shenton Park Dogs Refuge Home - Perth-based charity that promotes animal welfare and rescues and rehomes dogs. You can adopt, foster or donate here.

Cat Haven - Perth-based charity that promotes animal welfare and rescues and rehomes cats. You can adopt, foster or donate here.

[rotationalsymmetry]

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/02/business/covid-economy-parents-kids-career-homeschooling.html?fbclid=IwAR08j8RwbP4SbSW3gY07NCYr_2-g5M61ps72nQi5CMmz1CYe0DCoO-MnJ0A So. On one level, there is a very pragmatic concern here and I don’t really want to take away from it: a lot of families are in really, really bad situations and aren’t sure what to do, and the individual solutions are not good ones. Parents need a massive financial bail-out and also it’d be kind of I guess nice to figure out a way to counter the fact that lots of women are going to have their careers and lifetime earning potential dramatically harmed by this. On another level, this is what happens when you try to make child-raising as cost-efficient as possible. (And an awful lot of what goes on with schools makes a lot more sense if you see it in terms of childcare being the primary goal, socialization* being the second goal, and actual imparting of knowledge and skills to be in third place at best.) We act as though it’s reasonable to have 15-30+ kids all the same age in a room with a single adult, rather than having mixed age groups with multiple adults, including seniors, and multiple children and teenagers of different ages. This is not normal in the sense that for most of human existence, people didn’t do things that way. Mass education is a modern phenomenon just a couple centuries old. And it doesn’t have to be this way (and it also doesn’t have to be this way for kids to get a decent education) -- things are this way so that adults can go off and work in the factory office and their kids will neither get in the way of them working nor be workers themselves. (The trend of children working in factories under appallingly unsafe conditions before the rise of mass education, was really, really bad. At the time, sending all children to school was a much better alternative to having poor kids work in factories under high-risk conditions.) Point is, his is a choice we’re making. Some different choices we could make while still having an industrialized society and a mass education system:

Have decent amounts of parental leave (for dads too) like most industrialized countries. So at least daycare wouldn’t have to start as young.

Also substantial vacation time, as vacation time can be important for parent-child bonding and creating positive memories and just general enrichment.

Normalize part time work, normalize having part time work with full benefits, replace the forty hour week with a shorter length of time. The forty hour week was seen as a reasonable length when it was normal to have one parent work and one stay home; now that it’s normal to have almost all adults working, and with dramatically increased efficiency due to automation, the default week should be much shorter.

Normalize work with flexible hours.

Raise minimum wage. By a lot. (This goes hand and hand with shortening the work week: as long as fewer hours = less pay, a lot of people are going to figure they can’t afford to work fewer hours.)

Reduce stigma against stay at home parents of all genders.

Universal health care (to make it easier to work part time jobs or to be an entrepreneur, and to make it easier to take time off from working entirely.)

Have better social services in general, and possibly a Universal Basic Income. (One way to deal with the lifetime earning hit of staying home with a young child for a couple years is to tell women to not do it (and assume men already know not to); another way is to make it less painful to be poor.)

Pay for this by taxing the rich at New Deal rates and reducing the military budget. This would be a good idea even if we did nothing with the money.

Have more adults in classrooms -- which might or might not mean more teachers. Have adults who are there for the kids’ emotional needs and not just their academic needs. Separate out the teacher role from the “classroom cop” role or ideally change school’s approach to discipline/classroom management entirely (we’d have far more teachers entering and staying in the profession if teaching didn’t require enforcing discipline; at minimum we could have public tutors who work one-on-one and in small groups with struggling (or gifted) kids be a common supplement to the primary classroom teacher, as an option for teachers who don’t want to eg supervise detentions) and allow opportunities for kids who just aren’t up for participating in class on a given day to not be in class without having to go home either. (That would probably dramatically improve behavior problems right there.) Have enough counselors that seeing your counselor isn’t a once a year experience for most kids. Sometimes these extra adults should be selected based on who the community thinks is qualified and who is from the same racial/cultural background as the students, not necessarily on education credentials, since there’s massive racial and class elements to who gets educated. And pay should not be based solely on education credentials either. Have enough adults that they can respond not only to kids who are causing problems but also look out for the wellbeing of the quiet well-behaved kids too.

Encourage ways for unrelated adults and children (and children of different ages) to interact outside of daycare/school, including structured Big Brother/Big Sister type things and less structured activities.

Many nuclear families don’t live anywhere near their extended family; I’m not sure what to do about that, but it’s not ideal for children. Close relationships with grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins can be very good for children’s health and development.

Pass laws restricting unpredictable shift work, which is known to be bad for worker’s health and is undoubtably terrible for parent-child bonding as well.

Fully support kids with special needs (in the sense of, kids who really do need one-on-one adult presence at all times, or perhaps more accurately situations where other people need the child to have one-on-one attention for them to be comfortable) including outside of school. Comprehensive age-appropriate education from pre-K through college about all disabilities, including developmental disabilities and mental illness, with a focus on how non-disabled kids/adults can treat disabled people respectfully.

I feel like there should be something here about how schools tend to suspend and expel black students at higher rates, but I don’t really know what to say about it.

Encourage kids to want to grow up to be well rounded human beings who are compassionate, responsible, and ethical, over being “successful” (ie having a high-status well-paying job.) Reduce the stigma of working lower status jobs for adults, and reduce the prestige of working higher status jobs. This starts with asking kids questions other than what do they want to be when they grow up, and asking adults questions other than “what do you do?” 

Kids need close personal relationships with adults, and there is a limit to how close a classroom teacher can get to a class of 15 kindergardeners or multiple classes of 30 highschoolers. But, if we had a reasonable adult:child ratio -- a ratio closer to what people would experience without institutions -- and some of the adults were their primarily to build those relationships? Kids could form meaningful bonds at school as well as at home.

But also, parents should have more time available to spend with their children. And other adults as well. “It takes a village to raise a child” and all that.

*When a group of schoolkids is on a field trip, they for the most part look at you while you’re speaking, raise their hands when they have a question, etc. Homeschool groups don’t. It’s not really that raising one’s hand is necessary behavior, but if it’s behavior that you’re expecting and you don’t get it, that creates problems. Socialization is also: learning to be punctual, learning to hold your pee, learning to accept authority, learning to tune out your personal desires when they’re incompatible with the environment you’re in, learning gender roles and classism and so on, learning to evaluate whether you got the right answer or not based on what your teacher says, learning to see sparkly stickers as a reasonable substitute for personal attention, learning to keep your feelings to yourself, etc. It’s not that socialization is bad; socialization is adapting yourself to the world that you live in. Socialization is also washing your hands after using the bathroom and complimenting people on their haircuts and (right now) wearing a fucking mask.

[nerdygaymormon]

I think the problem with abortion being legal is that most of the time yhe people who he abortions don't need them at all. There is no way to make the rare unless there are certain conditions you have to meet in order to even be considered to get one. This 'you can have an abortion up till the moment of birth' stuff is awful. And no matter what abortion always prevents someone from getting to experience their life.

Of all the possible methods of birth control, abortion has to be the worst. Who would rely on that if they had easy access to other forms? It’s why I’m in favor birth control options being covered by insurance. Birth control prevents an egg from becoming fertilized. 

The “morning-after” pill is available to prevent pregnancy, although it shouldn’t be used as a routine method of birth control due to possible side effects. In cases where there was a problem with other methods (condom broke, missed a dose of birth control pills, diaphragm slipped, etc), or unexpected unprotected sex (including forced sex), this pill is a dose of hormones that works by (depending on where the woman is in her cycle) preventing or delaying ovulation, may interfere with the egg getting fertilized, or changes the lining of the uterus so the fertilized egg does not implant. It will not work if a fertilized egg has already attached to the uterus wall (meaning it won’t end a pregnancy). It’s 95% effective if taken within first 24 hours, and 89% effective if taken within 72 hours of sexual encounter. 

Hopefully those methods are enough to give women control over planning when they’ll get pregnant. 

—————————————————————

When we move beyond preventing pregnancy to the aborting of a pregnancy, that’s when things get a lot more complicated. Is there a moral difference between a zygote, an embryo and a fetus? What constitutes the difference between a collection of cells and a separate human life? 

Some people will say that to require a women to remain pregnant is to force her to have her body used to host another person against her will. Some people will say there’s never a reason to end a pregnancy and it is killing a human. 

Some societies ban abortion almost completely while others permit it in certain cases. In the USA, the standard for when abortion is no longer allowed has varied between when is the fetus viable outside of the womb (which with medical advances, this has become a much earlier in pregnancy), or when the fetus is declared to be a separate life (when a fetus has a heartbeat is growing in popularity, this happens before a woman misses her period and may not know she’s pregnant).

I’m comfortable with allowing abortion for the mother's health (including mental health, as judged by a professional). I don’t classify the baby’s life as more important than the mother’s. Also when the abortion is the result of a crime, such as rape, incest, or child abuse. And when the fetus has severe problems. 

Few people would carry a pregnancy to the 3rd trimester with the intent to end it, that’s an awful lot of discomfort and people able to see she’s pregnant if the woman isn’t planning to have the baby. Most late-term abortions are done because something went horribly wrong with the health of the mother or the baby, and I am not comfortable to outlaw 100% of such procedures. I agree that at some point certain conditions need to be met for the fetus to be terminated. 

It’s an issue our society still wrestles with. I don’t know the answers. I can see the moral arguments of both sides (well, there’s actually more than 2 sides, with principled, moral arguments that can be made for them). 

—————————————————————

As I said in response to the other ask, we could greatly reduce the number of abortions by doing the following: 

medically-accurate comprehensive sex ed

free/cheap & easy access to birth control

paid maternity leave

healthcare access

subsidized childcare

reduce/eliminate employment discrimination against pregnancies

good education opportunities for children

make adoption process easier

[anecessaryconscience]

Marijuana Mama

My dilemma is this…

Last year before I became pregnant with my son, my bestfriend and I hatched an idea to start a lifestyle project centered around cannabis positivity. In 2018, California legalized marijuana and set in motion the start of a billion dollar industry within the state alone. As two people who feel, see, and enjoy the effects that marijuana can have, we wanted to be a part of the legal cannabis industry as it found its way into the mass market. Like many young people these days, we turned to instagram to start our business, and get our ideas out into the open. We began by creating some basic informational posts on marijuana: the different ways in which it could be ingested, utilized, stored, and incorporated into all facets of everyday life from meals to sex. Just when we had begun to see some real traction and were feeling very excited about the direction in where our project was headed, I found out I was pregnant again. In late 2017 I miscarried my first baby and was devastated. When I became pregnant again in the beginning 2018, not only was I ecstatic, but also incredibly anxious to not take any chances surrounding the health and wellbeing of my baby and my pregnancy. I put almost everything else on hold initially, including Edibleelementsonline, our cannabis lifestyle brand. After having made my baby my priority, I have since struggled with how to meld the worlds of childcare and cannabis into my personal and professional life.

Personally speaking, being a new mom has denied me a lot of liberties let alone small pleasures (like sleep, being out for extended periods of time, taking long showers...I could go on), but it has also offered a world of new possibilities, inspirations, and sheer happiness that I have otherwise not known as an adult. In my last job before I gave birth, I realized I wanted to be a writer. It had always been something I found pleasure in, whether it was making up a story, articulating an argument, or just getting something off of my chest the best way I knew how. After the birth of my son, I started to think about becoming a children’s book author. I wanted to create something that would be a joy to share with him, as well as something that would be instructive. I’m a big believer in education- of all kinds. I think that there is something to be learned in any situation, at any age. You are never too young to be intelligent, and to make intelligent decisions; which is the driving force behind the series I have in mind. Having decided upon a storyline for my children’s book, again the dilemma of being involved in a cannabis brand pervaded. But for me, the two interests had been intertwined for years.

I remember the first time I smoked, was when I found some leftover bud in my sister’s room. I was with one of my closest girlfriend’s from my soccer team, and we must have been in either the 8th grade, or freshmen in high school. From there, smoking was only something I did sporadically in social situations or with my high school sweetheart. After I graduated college and was sent out into the open world as an adult, was when I realized that smoking marijuana was one of the rare and simple pleasures that I enjoy. Around that time I had been dealing with a lot of heavy and confusing frames of mind that would range from fear to exhaustion, with anger and excitement somewhere in between. Cannabis, for me, has the effect of putting myself within my head and thoughts, whether they’re new ones, or ones that have been subconsciously looming in the recesses. Some people dread the idea of being confronted with their thoughts, or that inner voice repeating something that’s unpleasant to recognize, like: “I need to get into the gym,” “I owe such and such an apology,” “I’m not happy at this job, in this relationship, etc…” But for me, I relish the experience of diving deep into my mind and sorting through the ruminations. My inner thoughts are my happy place, whether they’re dark or not. Smoking for me is therapeutic, and a chance for me to deal with a lot of my issues. Not to cope or assuage, but to deal. Once I inhale the smoke, I can truly open up my mind and explore not only any nagging voices or issues, but where are they coming from, and how I can appease them (This type of high goes hand in hand with smoking sativa strains of flower which induce upbeat activity, and are great for productivity and flow. Indica strains are for more of a relaxing smoke. They’re perfect at the end of the day for reflection and down time with my boyfriend). I can’t relate enough, how many times I’ve considered a situation differently after smoking upon it. They say that there are at least two sides to every story, a high person will tell you that there are at least a hundred. Alongside cannabis, my cravings for insight and enlightenment have helped me to perceive major obstacles, such as the death of my father, in a new light.

When my father passed away five years ago I went into a really dark space. When he died I was just about to enter the world as a college graduate ready to take on adulthood. After he passed I was still thrust out into the world, but nowhere near ready. I’m not sure about other daughters, but the death of my dad swiftly crumbled a lifetime of confidence and knowledge I had been building in order to prepare myself post-college. Without him, I just felt like a scared little girl. In dealing with his death I felt alone, resentful, and different. Usually it’s not easy for me to be openly communicative, particularly about my emotions, and especially so when those emotions concern vulnerability. So I closed up. As I closed in, I spent a majority of my time thinking, and yes, smoking. But it was during these sessions that I would initially consider pain, then all the other thoughts that would race in. Slowly, some of the thoughts edging their way to the forefront became optimistic. I began to consider all the ways in which my sadness actually connected me to the people and the world around me. Everyone has bad days and everyone has issues, some people are just less affected or upfront. The realization that my heartaches made me no different, made me a more empathetic and understanding person. From there I was driven in a way I hadn’t been in years. Empathy broadened my horizons beyond friends and family, into the world at large.

I wanted to take a stand for people who felt badly, and furthermore, I wanted to help. That fire led me to a position within a museum that expands the perceptions of immigrant culture within the United States, at a time when migrants and ethnic people were (and still are) under attack. That work essentially turned me into an activist. I documented rallies and protests, I wrote about them, and then posted them on behalf of the museum, for the world to know. The response I received let me know, that if I was to have a calling, it was to be writing- with a cause. And why stop at one, when there are so many causes to care for and become a part of? Legalizing marijuana, mental health, women’s rights, immigrant’s rights, the criminal justice system, the profiteering of college athletes, and access to a relevant, quality education (in and outside of school) starting at a young age, are all issues that I want to fight for. To me, all of these issues are interrelated simply by the lack of support or understanding surrounding them. Whether it’s motherhood or marijuana, my intentions stand and are intended to remain so, on the basis of doing my part for the greater good.

[celiaelise]

So I'm like doing Bad financially, and my mom's caught on, because I'm not lying to her about it, even though I'm trying not to reveal the full truth. But I would prefer not to lie about it? I feel like it would be detrimental to my own progress in certain areas.

But anyway she keeps asking if I'm okay and if I need help, but I very much do not want to tell her how much help I actually need. I do think she would help me; she likes to feel needed. I think she would probably even be nice about it. But I also think she would permanently integrate into her perception of me just how much I'm failing to take care of myself. It would deepen the idea of me as, like, someone helpless and incompetent.

Which, like, may even be true, but I certainly don't want to hear about it from her. I don't think it's even necessarily a pride thing? (though I won't deny that possibility) it's more that she will make "Elise can't do this thing." an immutable fact for the rest of my life. Or, at least, I'm scared she will.

Anyway that's kinda why I did a bunch of job applications last night. Two of them already called me expressing interest, and one of them I might be interested in... (the other revealed I would only be working like 6 hours a week, which doesn't seem worth it.)

But ugh. I still don't really want to get another job lol, even though obviously I need one, and I do want to stop struggling. I hate (am terrified of) change and new environments in the best of circumstances, and these are certainly not those. Honestly what got me through even submitting my resume was the knowledge that if I take a job and it sucks ass, I can just bounce. (real winners quit, etc.) Plus, almost all the jobs I'm seeing that pay even close to decent (without a bachelor's 🙄) are childcare/education, which is a field that I am interested in, but have been burned very badly by before! And tbh I probably haven't recovered from that burnout yet.

There's also some vague, like, administrative assistant/receptionist type jobs, for all manner of businesses. Which I'm a little interested in bc it seems low-pressure, (compared to keeping children alive) and I don't mind data entry, and I feel like I'd do well in an environment where I have a bunch of clear-cut tasks to kind of do in my own time? But other than a two week volunteer stint at the IT dept of the hospital my dad used to work for, I have zero office environment experience, so that could be very scary!

oh my god, my mother just texted that she sent me more money...like, cool, yes. Objectively a positive development. But she did it out of powerful anxiety, which isn't good news for either of us. I do sometimes feel bad for worrying her, or not doing more to ease her worries, but also, she cultivated and refused to treat this anxiety disorder all on her own, and I know very well that it won't help anyone to make (any y more of) her mental health issues mine, too.

[fivestarnursing]

Benefits to Pursuing a Career in Nursing in USA ......nursing assistant training | nursing career options | nursing assistant jobs

Benefits to Pursuing a Career in Nursing

The nursing career has now become a fast-paced and in-demand field with many benefits one can enjoy while helping out in a healthcare organization. Working in the healthcare sector is not for someone who is not mentally and physically strong. Building a career in the healthcare sector can be very challenging and demanding, and more often, it’s the nurses who have to be more active as they streamline the working process by communicating with doctors, patients, as well as administration.

Keeping aside the challenging part of working in the healthcare sector, there are many benefits to pursuing a career in nursing. It’s not just the nurses’ demands that make the profession very appealing; there is more to the career, which makes it a flexible career option. Let’s get to know some of the major advantageous aspects of a nursing career from below.

Personally and professionally rewarding

Making a career in nursing is often considered a very fulfilling option, both personally and professionally. Generally, a nurse’s duty and responsibilities lie in providing care for treating patients and improving their health, working alongside doctors, following their instructions and advice.

This way, nurses are able to directly take part in caring for the needy. One of the best benefits to pursuing a career in nursing is to save lives on an everyday basis. As a nurse, you can take advantage of your skills and knowledge to make a positive impact on the organization.

More job security

As mentioned before, nurses are high in demand whether it’s a developing country or a developed country. Many studies show that the average employment rate of nursing graduates in a developed country is more than 80%. So, you can see that the figures are comparatively higher than other healthcare career fields.

No matter what, the demand for nurses would never decline as they are always necessary. From many benefits to pursuing a career in nursing, you can be confident about getting employed once you have obtained your nursing degree.

Apart from the job security, nurses can also expect to receive a competitive salary along with a benefits package that includes paid sick leaves, paid holiday and vacation time, facilities for health and life insurance, retirement benefits, tuition reimbursement, retirement benefits, childcare, and more.

More professional development

There are various opportunities nursing graduates can tap into in order to advance their careers. Some of the options are becoming a ward manager, senior nurse, or director of nursing. All these positions would require getting significant experience and advanced education. You can also make progress in your career by earning specialized nurse certifications to become an advanced nurse practitioner or consultant and increment in potential salaries coupled with greater job satisfaction.

Maximum career flexibility

Making a career in nursing would offer flexibility in work as the duty is often organized into shifts rather than covering specific hours every week. So you can work different days throughout the week since nurses work in hospitals for long shifts that even include unsocial hours. Some practices give the option for 8 to 10 or 10-12 hours shifts. This also means it can decrease the number of days you work each week.

More varieties of nurse specialization

The healthcare sector is evolving as it adapts to new technologies and discoveries. Thus, it is expected that the workforce would make adjustments and utilize enhanced skills to use in different areas whenever required. Hence, many prefer to specialize in distinctive nursing areas, which include intensive care, pediatrics, mental health, geriatric, oncology, etc.

Moreover, from many benefits to pursuing a career in nursing, you can expect to develop a range of transferable skills, so you can effectively change your career path whenever possible. If you are looking for a challenging and stimulating profession, then embarking on a nursing career would be best for you.

Many professionals like to work directly with people, and if your liking and ability fit the profession, then nursing would be the right place for you. As a nurse, you can spend most of your days interacting with patients, doctors, and nurses. This also helps nurses with developing their communication skills to handle stressful situations. Having explored all the advantages, you must have realized the nurse career can also be busy and stressful. However, it can compensate for the feeling of satisfaction you can get from saving a life.

www.fsnursing.com/benefits-to-pursuing-a-career-in-nursing/

www.fsnursing.com/nursing-assistant-training-services/

www.fsnursing.com/nursing-career-opportunities-usa/

[xd4005alishia]

Article

The pandemic left a lot of people working from home, for many this has been a relief; it cuts down on travel costs, safety of social distancing, if you have very young children it may have cut down childcare costs, more flexibility with what you can do during breaks. However, for many working parents with younger children or with children with learning difficulties it hasn’t necessarily been as fantastic as many had fantasised about. It many struggled with how to balance their time between working and childcare, there no longer being a separation from these two parts of their daily schedules. How can you balance between being a worker, a parent and a teaching assistant all at the same time? You are bound to eventually experience burnout. Having meetings or important client phone calls interrupted by your child or children who are also trying to figure out how to navigate this new normal, a change in school and home boundary. Spending your few breaks trying to squeeze in chores, childcare, feeding not only yourself but the rest of your family as well can certainly create the feeling that you are now spending every waking moment working, always playing catch up on your work tasks.

Parents of children with learning difficulties likely found this new normal even more difficult as the daily schedule of their child has been uprooted; no longer able to go to schools designed for catering to their needs, things like speech therapy, counselling, adapted physical education, etc. The majority of parents are not trained to educate their children especially not in such a specialised way, there are risks that being out of school during lockdown will have had a negative impact on children’s education in general but also for some children’s development. Such a rapid change in routine can be frustrating and incredibly upsetting for autistic kids. Parents have even more on their plates to help make sure their taking care of their children’s mental health as well.

A family friend of ours works at an accounting job, during lockdown she began to work from home like the rest of her colleagues, however, her young child was disrupting zoom meetings, phone calls and desk work. She had to ensure she was meeting the needs of her child so she began to do the majority of her work when her daughter went to sleep, meaning she was working very late into the night, getting a few hours of sleep, waking up and splitting the day between working and childcare, rinse, repeat. Eventually her boss told her to stop overworking herself and just get done what she can during work hours, understanding the difficulties. Unfortunately, not all businesses are that understanding.

Working together, apart can be a great thing but there needs to be a balance in order for work to be productive. Ways to do this include: creating a separate work space, schedule your time, be willing to ask for help and be realistic!

[warninggraphiccontent]

7 August 2020

Show of hands

A couple of interesting government speeches touching on data while I was away (naturally).

Soon-to-depart Cabinet Secretary, Mark Sedwill, gave a valedictory rundown of his experience in public service. There was a bit on the importance of the UK government comparing itself to, and learning from, other governments (hello InCiSE). And there was a bit on data:

With all the data available to us in the modern era, the man or woman in Whitehall really should know best, but knowledge isn’t impact and so insight from big data should inform our leadership of the wider system, and that leadership must be persuasive and convening to be truly effective.

I don't think it's just the 'knowledge isn't impact' point that makes the expertise of others in the system important (local government will have better knowledge of a particular local area, etc), but the need to see Whitehall as a steward in a wider system - including on data - was a welcome theme running through the speech. Sedwill chose to quote T. E. Lawrence:

“Do not try to do too much with your own hands. Better they do it tolerably than that you do it perfectly … you are to help them, not [do] it for them. Actually, also, under their conditions, your practical work will not be as good as, perhaps, you think it is”. Or in the famous development aphorism: “better teach to fish than provide a fish”.

The 'hands' reference put me in my mind of something else. Specifically, That Dominic Cummings Job Advert which uses a different quote about hands, from mathematician Alexander Grothendieck:

‘Two hands, it isn’t much considering how the world is infinite. Yet, all the same, two hands, they are a lot.’

One may be deliberately over-reading in a desperate attempt to connect some things for a newsletter introduction, but Sedwill's stewarding hands approach and Cummings' contrasting centralising one (see, e.g., 10ds) provide a useful frame for thinking about how the government is approaching data (and much else besides).

There is also some risk of sorting things at the centre at the expense of the whole system in the speech by Steve Barclay, chief secretary to the Treasury, which announces the creation of a small data science team in the Treasury. There undoubtedly be other dragons too - see Peter here, and Rachel Coldicutt and replies here - but I'm mainly encouraged that the Treasury is heading into what have been uncharted waters for them: taking the better use of data seriously.

Setting clear priorities and connecting expenditure, performance and outcomes? Good. Recognising government has 'too often... been behind the curve when it comes to obtaining, analysing, and enabling open access to data'? Good. Talking about the importance of standards, incentives, data architecture, legacy IT and the limits of data across government? Good. Let's see how that's translated into action when it comes to the Spending Review.

There's also a good summary from Graham here. And hats off to Civil Service World for the New Radicals gag.

Also:

Data Bites will return on Wednesday 9 September. Watch the archive here in the meantime.

It's snooker world championship time - here's my attempt at some snooker dataviz (and terrible puns) from last year

The Office for Statistics Regulation are reviewing the availability of data on children and young people. If only someone had done a report on that recently... here's our report with Nesta on missing data in children and young people's services.

A British (online) newspaper has given its frontpage over to a chart, like it's an American newspaper or something. Though as the replies suggest, there may be some way to go yet...

Happy tenth birthday to legislation.gov.uk! Here's John Sheridan talking about how they prepared the site for Brexit, at October's Data Bites.

***Open government irony klaxon*** I'll spare you my extended thoughts on open government being back at the Cabinet Office and therefore under the auspices of certain individuals (for now), but this should give you an idea.

That Twitter Joke Format feels like it was months ago already, but yes, of course I got involved.

Amazing work from the team at the Orwell Youth Prize to keep this year's show on the road - read, and even listen to, some of the brilliant winners here.

Nope. And the polls prove it. And you should always believe the polls. Obviously.

I'm off again next week - so, by extension, is this newsletter. Maybe I'll find some time to read this E. M. Forster short story, The Machine Stops, which has popped up in conversations a few times over the last couple of weeks.

See you soon

Gavin

Today's links:

Tips, tech, etc

Looking after your mental health as we come out of lockdown (Mental Health Foundation)

Companies Start to Think Remote Work Isn’t So Great After All* (Wall Street Journal)

Graphic content

Beirut

Visual guide: how explosion caused mass casualties and devastation across Beirut (The Guardian)

Mapping the Damage From the Beirut Explosion* (New York Times)

The Beirut blast is the latest tragedy linked to ammonium nitrate* (The Economist)

This morning I woke up to see viral maps incorrectly comparing the damage area of the Beirut explosion to London and New York (Joanna Merson)

Beirut port, before and after the explosion (Ian Bremmer)

Beirut explosion: Before and after satellite images show extent of devastation (ITV News)

Viral content

Coronavirus vaccine tracker: how close are we to a vaccine? (The Guardian, via Sukh)

The unique US failure to control the virus* (New York Times)

How to spot a local coronavirus outbreak from data (FT)

Europe battles to contain surge in Covid-19 cases (FT)

Pandemic crisis: Global economic recovery tracker* (FT)

The Infodemic: Super-spreaders* (Tortoise)

New York City Reopening Splits Along Lines of Wealth and Race* (Bloomberg)

Covid-19: England had highest excess death levels in Europe by end of May (The Guardian)

White America Got a Head Start on Small-Business Virus Relief* (Bloomberg)

Covid-19 seems to have changed lifestyles for good* (The Economist)

Coronavirus: England highest level of excess deaths (BBC News)

The French have, breaking the pattern of recent weeks, published Covid-19 test result data on a Saturday... (Tom Forth)

Why does data matter so much in #COVID19 and why is the UK getting it wrong? A thread on transparency (Ed Conway)

Where next for local lockdown? Use our tracker to find out* (New Statesman)

Counting the coronavirus crisis (South China Morning Post)

How fit were public services for coronavirus? (IfG)

Big tech

Microsoft’s proposed purchase of TikTok would be its biggest yet* (The Economist)

Big tech presents a problem for investors as well as Congress* (FT)

Twitter’s algorithm does not seem to silence conservatives* (The Economist)

TikTok’s rampant growth strikes wrong note with US* (FT)

#dataviz

17 gold, 65 silver and 87 bronze medals at #malofiej28 (Malofiej)

Continue, Pivot or Put It Down: The Pudding’s process to go from idea to data story (The Pudding)

The Courage (and Disappointment) of Pitching a Visual Essay (The Pudding)

Ten Guidelines for Better Tables (Jon Schwabish)

Science and nature

Life and Death in Our Hot Future Will Be Shaped by Today’s Income Inequality* (Bloomberg)

Isaias Targets East Coast in Fastest Start to Hurricane Season Since 1851* (Bloomberg)

Exploring the Solar System* (New York Times)

How to dress for space* (Washington Post)

Biden calls for 100 percent clean electricity by 2035. Here’s how far we have to go.* (Washington Post)

Rain shadow maps (Alasdair Rae)

Sport and leisure

A Sankey diagram of the first-place vote for Best Novel in this year's #HugoAwards (@Goobergunch)

Premier League: The best stats from the strangest season (BBC Sport)

Are Penalty Kicks Easier Without Fans? Maybe Not. (FiveThirtyEight)

A year out, few in Japan think the Olympics can be held next year* (The Economist)

Everything else

Major projects in government (Oliver for IfG)

So, the permanent secretary of the newly formed Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office will be... (Oliver for IfG)

Personal well-being in the UK (ONS)

Why supermarkets are struggling to profit from the online grocery boom* (FT)

The time of your life: Time use in London and the UK over the past 40 years (Resolution Foundation/Trust for London)

Finding the New Age, for Your Age (Flowing Data)

How George Floyd's death sparked a wave of UK anti-racism protests (The Guardian)

Below the radar: Exploring grants data for grassroots organisations (Local Trust, NCVO, 360Giving)

Police money in US politics under scrutiny as calls for reform grow* (FT - I think the box charts give the opposite impression to that intended at first glance?)

Early education and childcare entitlements data visualisation (NAO)

So I promised more behind-the-scenes of the @FiveThirtyEight 2020 forecast. Today I'll walk you through the development of our topline chart! (Anna Wiederkehr, via Marcus)

Meta data

Viral content

Coronavirus: England's contact-tracing app readies for launch (BBC News)

From frenzy to clarity: How our COVID-19 response has helped us put our community and data at the heart of our decision-making (Parkinson's UK)

FIGHTING AND WINNING FOR PRIVACY, WHERE WAS THE ICO (Open Rights Group)

We mustn’t let Silicon Valley thinking infect our NHS (openDemocracy)

How the pandemic has exposed AI’s limitations (Nesta)

How Taiwan’s Unlikely Digital Minister Hacked the Pandemic* (Wired - our interview with Audrey Tang here)

How to Think Like an Epidemiologist: Don’t worry, a little Bayesian analysis won’t hurt you.* (New York Times)

NHS contact-tracing app Ethics Board scrapped* (Telegraph)

Health data

NDG report on barriers to information sharing to support direct care (National Data Guardian)

Exploring the barriers to information sharing for direct care (National Data Guardian)

Public deliberation in the use of health and care data (OneLondon/Ipsos MORI/The King's Fund)

Government

Census 2021 – For the first time the ONS is using administrative data to count number of rooms (ONS)

Important digital changes are set out in today's planning reform white paper (Paul Maltby - see also previous Data Bites)

Personal reflections on a year of LOTI (Eddie Copeland)

Introducing our Data Principles (Ordnance Survey)

How data analytics can help with audits (National Audit Office)

Rapidly delivering an online form using MoJ Form Builder (MoJ Digital and Technology)

We won! Home Office to stop using racist visa algorithm (JCWI, via Jill)

Gove's Data Control Coup Emerges from the Shadows (Byline Times)

Teaching Public Service in the Digital Age

The Political School: forecasting, statistics and probability (BBC Sounds, via David)

Lies, damn lies and YouTube analytics – Part 1 (HackIT)

Scottish exam grades - John Swinney v Guy Nason (via Hetan Shah)

Everything else

Is the US about to split the internet? (BBC News)

Introducing WhatDoTheyKnow Projects (mySociety)

How Not to Know Ourselves (Data & Society)

Which Generation Chief Data Officer are you?  #CDOSummerSchool (Edafe Onerhime - see also this)

Tech Titans at Bay? (Project Syndicate)

The (in)credibility of algorithmic models to non-experts (Information, Communication and Society)

FAIR, fairer, fairest? (Leigh Dodds)

It’s not just misinformation that’s confusing us, it’s also missing information (An Xiao Mina)

Polis and the Political Process (Demos, Open Rights Group)

Public apathy is the most powerful enemy of tech regulation (NS Tech)

Can Killing Cookies Save Journalism?* (Wired)

Behind the Buzzwords: Big Data (BBC Sounds)

Mining public opinion: why unsuccessful online petitions should not be ignored (LSE British Politics and Policy)

Creating a digital commons (IPPR)

Modernizing U.S. Data Infrastructure: Design Considerations for Implementing a National Secure Data Service to Improve Statistics and Evidence Building (Data Foundation)

Opportunities

Call for inputs: Emerging technologies and their potential impact on the communications industry (Ofcom)

Consultation: Open Communications – Enabling people to share data with innovative services (Ofcom)

JOB: Biometrics and Surveillance Camera Commissioner (Home Office)

JOB: National Data Guardian for Health and Social Care (DHSC)

JOB: Deputy Director Head of Operations, Data and Dashboard (Cabinet Office)

JOB: Head of Policy & Innovation Lab (Home Office)

JOB: Research Director (Resolution Foundation)

JOB: Data architect (Citizens Advice)

We're hiring: Apply to be our Algorithms Reporter (Bureau of Investigative Journalism)

And finally...

Sound

Transit chimes by chord interval (Denise Lu)

Listen to Wikipedia (Hatnote, via Giuseppe)

Vision

I can't stop thinking about this chart. (Laura Birks, via Nick)

Trump looks at charts (Axios, via Georgie)

Are overweight politicians less trustworthy?* (The Economist)

#EatOutToHelpOut (Rob Fry)

Other

I have a joke about Excel, but... (Mike Shapiro)

Winning the Internet is a data-driven newsletter of links in other newsletters (The Pudding)

[clovel-childcare]

How Do Childcare Facilities Provide Early Childhood Education?

According to experts, the growth and development of kids occur when they are young. During this period, they tend to understand things quickly and memorise them. If the little ones get proper facilities such that they could engage themselves in early childhood education, it helps them develop for tomorrow. It has also been noticed that preschool offers a range of benefits.

Parents must decide on enrolling their toddlers to reputed childcare in Merrylands. By receiving knowledge from experts in a structured way, they definitely feel blessed. Did you know? Many doctors and psychologists also suggest parents that they should register the names of the little ones to preschool. It is a process of developing young brains for the future.

Baby Programs in a Nutshell

Top-rated preschools offer a well-designed baby program for developing kids. The activities are well-structured to help children get rid of development delays. It also helps them improve behaviour. Some of the activities include math, riddles, and puzzles. It helps them encourage motor skills. Kids also develop cognitive and communicative skills gradually.

Reports have found that baby programs can help children learn the value of patience and resilience in the due course of time. For that, educators engage kids in activities where they have to stand in a queue. Some other baby program activities include singing (alphabet songs), dancing, picture books, reading words, drawing funny characters, etc.

Benefits of Preschool Education for Kids

The benefit of quality preschool programs is not just one. Let’s check them out here-

• Preschools help children learn to engage with other kids and adults. It is vital for developing their social skills. It also teaches them the importance of listening to others and expressing their own ideas. It helps them make friends.

• When kids get trained under experts’ guidance, preschool programs help them build a solid foundation for their mental and physical development. It is also a way of improving their performance in tests and exams. It leads to a smooth transition into school.

• As we all know that the little ones always remain curious about learning new things, baby programs give them a chance of discovering things in a structured way. It helps them follow directions and perform their tasks with improved skills.

• Early childhood education also helps children learn how to manage challenges in difficult times. It is done by practising games in which they have to work independently. It helps them develop the skills of patience and resilience.

• When kids prefer playing fun games and enjoy their time with other kids, they remain engaged in different activities. Considering the safety in the campus, childcare in Western Sydney provides a hygienic environment. It provides health benefits.

Benefits for Parents

The advantages of a preschool are not limited to the little ones; however, parents can also take advantage. It enables both parents to remain employed and contribute to the family income. It is a much better alternative than hiring a nanny or a babysitter.

If you have a concern about baby program charges, reliable childcare always ask reasonable fees from parents. To make things effective, you can get details about kids’ safety, teachers’ experience, and other queries at the time of admission. Once you get satisfactory responses, you can proceed or look for another preschool in your vicinity.

Bottom Line

High-quality childcare in Merrylands offers the most-trusted service of developing kids for tomorrow. Under the guidance of experts, you can notice an improvement in kids’ behaviour. It helps them become a responsible young adults in the near future. It has also noticed that children can develop emotional and social skills which are lifetime achievements for them.

So, what are you thinking about? Do a little research and find the best preschool today!

Also Read: Are your children getting enough exercise?

[gfiedlerbi214]

Unit 4

Immune System, Disease, Cancer, and the Healthcare System

Browse the Overview and Lecture pages.  How much/what do you already know about this topic?  What are you interested in learning about/initial questions.

I know as much about vaccines as a student and as a mother may know. When I found out I was pregnant, I completed a lot of research and listened to a lot of podcasts regarding pregnancy and vaccines for babies. I know of its importance but also know of the arguments against it. I hope this unit will shed a little light on the truth about infectious diseases and vaccines.

Go through the lecture.  For each item, take general notes.  What facts seem important to know?

Acute versus Chronic Diseases, and prevention strategies

Acute disease. Conditions with a sudden (and often severe) onset. These usually have a time-limit until you are "better" or "healed".  They are often caused by viruses, infections, injuries, or misuse of drugs. Examples: a broken bone, an asthma attack, a head cold, an overdose.

Chronic disease. Conditions that develop slowly and may worsen over time.  Often there is no cure or known end date, but people can learn to manage the illness.  These are often caused by genetics, environment, or can be the result of long-term unhealthy behaviors. Examples: Diabetes, Heart Disease, High Blood Pressure, Arthritis, Depression, or very specific ailments like ALS, Multiple Sclerosis, Alzheimer's, Lupus, etc.

Communicable/Transmissible Diseases. Can be spread from one person to another through a variety of ways: direct contact, breathing or insect bites.  These are sometimes called "Infectious" diseases.

Non-communicable/Non-transmissible Diseases.  Cannot be spread from one person to another (excluding genetics).

The best strategies you can take to prevent or lessen the severity of chronic disease is to:

Live a healthy lifestyle with good nutrition, exercise, sleep and good hygiene practices.

Know your family history.  While we can't necessarily avoid genetic diseases, knowing to be on the look-out can lead to early detection and early intervention.  Consider creating a Medical Family Tree, or taking genetic tests (available from services like 23andMe, AncestryHealth, or your doctor).  These are not perfect, but can sometimes give you insight.

Stages and Types of Cancer

Most cancers that involve a tumor are staged into 5 broad groups:

Stage 0 means there are abnormal cells, but no cancer in the tumor.

Stage I means the cancer is small and only in one area. Also called early-stage cancer.

Stage II and III mean the cancer is larger and has grown into nearby tissues or lymph nodes.

Stage IV means the cancer has spread to other parts of the body. It's called advanced or metastatic cancer.

Types of Health Insurance

The healthcare system in the United States is very complicated, and health insurance is at the heart of it.  Most Americans are covered by private, mostly employer-provided health insurance.  We have 2 public (government-funded) health insurance programs Medicare and Medicaid to cover the elderly and the poor/disabled/uninsured children.

What was the point of the videos? What are a few things I learned on the websites, and might the site be useful in the future? What questions do these resources bring up?  If you were telling someone else about this class, what would you share from this unit.

This unit was definitely biology based. It was very important that whatever supplemental videos and websites that were chosen to help broaden this unit included extensive details and diagrams.

As/after you engage in the Discussion: Can you summarize the question and the conclusions you and your classmates found? How do you feel about the issue now?

Discussion question:

Let's talk about Vaccines.  In the early 20th-Century, they were viewed as a "miracle of science".  But now at the beginning of the 21st-Century, they have become very controversial.  Why is this an issue? What are the arguments for/against mandatory vaccines? Should people be allowed to opt out, and under what circumstances? Many schools require vaccines for students to attend, and even some countries require proof of vaccination.  Are these organizations overstepping their authority, or is this really for the public health good?  Please cite your sources, even if it's an example of bad information.  Keep the discussion focused on the topic and not each other's opinions (ie, don't call someone crazy for having a different opinion than yours).

My discussion response:

The intention of requiring children to be up to date on vaccinations prior to attending school should be a priority. According to the CDC, “state and local vaccination requirements for daycare and school entry are important…for maintaining high vaccination coverage rates, and in turn, lower rates of vaccine-preventable diseases” (State Vaccination Requirements). Any childcare or educational institution should be able to exercise any effort to ensure that the public health of the students, faculty, and the community are protected. I do not believe that these organizations are overstepping their authority in ensuring this safety. I agree with the efforts of tightening up the requirements for the current non-medical exemption requests that are available to claim in order to opt out of this pre-attendance requirement. I believe that vaccines are the single most important was to protect your child against deadly or incurable viruses and diseases. It will also protect those who are most vulnerable in the surrounding community. “Measles pertussis and the flu are just a few of the contagious illnesses that are preventable with the right vaccine” according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. “Some diseases such as polio and diphtheria are now rare because vaccination efforts have almost completely eliminated them in this country” (3 reasons to vaccinate your child before school begins). Implementing vaccination requirements will ensure protection before exposure, protect children that are more vulnerable, and equip children against the billions of germs that come in contact with them. I believe that exemptions should still be made available for those who meet the qualifications. However, the discussion of ethics and the wellbeing of the public will be frequently visited topics when deciding whether a child should be able to attend school unvaccinated.

Citations:

State Vaccination Requirements. (2016, November 15). Retrieved April 6, 2020, from https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/imz-managers/laws/state-reqs.html

3 reasons to vaccinate your child before school begins. Retrieved April 6, 2020, from .  https://www.reidhealth.org/blog/3-reasons-to-vaccinate-your-child-before-school-begins

Regarding how I now feel about the issue; my position on the necessity of vaccines amongst children in the educational system still stands. I believe it’s important to preserve the health of our children and to consider the health of the other children that will be in contact with my own. 

After you complete the Homework: What did you learn? What do you want to know more about?

Assignment requires:

While no one is immune from all disease, and the natural course of aging, there are many things seniors can do to stay healthy, or slow the progression of disease.

Cancer is one of the leading causes of death for all ages.  Complete a quick profile of a specific cancer of your choice. 

Create a list of 5-10 practices for healthy aging. (citations expected)

These are likely good practices for anyone, but why do you thing these are specifically good for an aging population? What might this help them improve or avoid?

Type of cancer, who's affected,

What are the characteristics (ie symptoms, organs targeted), What is the incidence (how many affected)

Is this treatable? What is the survival rate?

What lifestyle choices (if any) put people at risk for this cancer?

I learned;

(1) Eating whole and nutritious foods is an effective practice for healthy seniors. 

(2) Practicing healthy sleeping habits prior to sleep and towards the improvement of the overall sleep is ideal for seniors who hope to stay healthy. 

Regulating naps, sleeping in the dark and unplugging from electronics, and avoiding caffeine and alcohol in the evening are said to be healthy habits towards great and fulfilling sleep. Keeping a schedule for sleep is going to be extremely important for seniors because it is said that insomnia is common in older adults.

(3) Seniors should try and walk as much as possible.

(4) Social issues can also have a consequential impact on senior health, specifically mental health.

(5) Supplementation will also be an important contributor to maintaining a healthy and functioning lifestyle as a senior.

I also learned about breast cancer- who it affects, statistics, prevention measures, symptoms, and other relevant information.

After you complete the Project: How was the experience? Any take-aways?

Project requires a paper to be written:

Now that you have tracked your nutrition, write an analysis (1000 words recommended) in which you compare your eating habits between the two different groups of data (normal and healthy eating). Be sure to:

Be sure to include how your fats, protein, carbohydrates, sugar and sodium, and any other vitamin or mineral data you have compare to the Recommended Daily Allowances (RDAs) for your sex and age--see (Dietary Reference Intake calculator (Links to an external site.) ). You will probably want to compare your "normal" to the RDAs, your "healthy" to the RDAs, then

Describe problems and setbacks you had during your tracking days. Were these typical "normal" and "healthy" days, or did you have unusual circumstances? Did you have complete choice in your food options, or were there limitations?

Identify ways you still need to improve your eating.  What are some short-term and long-term changes you could make?  What things would help you improve? Are there specific obstacles that you can strategize your way around?

Lastly, at different points in our lives, we have different nutritional needs. You should be able to find good tools whether it's a year from now or 30.  List three (3) website, books, or videos you could find to give you quality nutrition information.  Cite the URLs or book title/author.

This was a very extensive paper covering my observation of the 4 days observed of my daily nutrition intake. It made me realize where I needed to improve and where I am doing well in regards to how well I am eating. 

General reflection on the unit--is there anything that feels important that you didn't mention above?  If you had free time, what topics might you want to look into further?

If i had more free time, i would expand my interest and research on how to care and prolong the quality of life for seniors. When my own parents become older, I hope to give them insight on to how to make their lives enjoyable and easy.

[lovingdaycareblog-blog]

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