earn Department of Justice Reaches Settlement with Virginia School District to Ensure Equal Opportunites for English Language Learner Students By www.justice.gov Published On :: Thu, 5 Sep 2013 18:27:46 EDT The Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division has reached a comprehensive settlement agreement with the Prince William County School District in Virginia to improve services for approximately 13,000 students who are English Language Learners (ELLs) and provide language access for Limited English Proficient (LEP) parents district-wide. Full Article OPA Press Releases
earn Justice Department Reaches Settlement with Ganado School District to Ensure Equal Opportunities for English Language Learner Students By www.justice.gov Published On :: Tue, 18 Feb 2014 12:31:49 EST The Justice Department announced today that it has entered into a settlement agreement with the Ganado Unified School District in Ganado, Ariz., to ensure that its English Language Learner (ELL) students have equal opportunities to participate in its educational programs, as mandated by federal law. Full Article OPA Press Releases
earn United States Reaches Settlement with Stamford Public Schools to Ensure Equal Opportunites for English Language Learner Students By www.justice.gov Published On :: Fri, 28 Feb 2014 17:51:38 EST The U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Connecticut announced that they have entered into a comprehensive settlement agreement with the Stamford Public School District in Stamford, Conn., that requires the district to provide language services and other supports to the more than 2,000 English Language Learner students enrolled in the district’s 20 schools. Full Article OPA Press Releases
earn Department of Justice Reaches Settlement with Clay County, Alabama School District to Ensure Equal Opportunities for English Language Learner Students By www.justice.gov Published On :: Tue, 2 Sep 2014 12:02:36 EDT The Justice Department announced today a settlement agreement with the Clay County School District in Alabama Full Article OPA Press Releases
earn Department of Justice Reaches Comprehensive Settlement with Crestwood School District to Improve Educational Services for English Language Learners By www.justice.gov Published On :: Thu, 28 Aug 2014 14:40:48 EDT The Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice, working closely with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Michigan, reached a comprehensive settlement agreement with the Crestwood School District in Dearborn Heights, Michigan, to improve educational services for students who are English Language Learners (ELLs), establish a system for recruiting and hiring faculty and staff and ensure that individuals who complain about discrimination do not face unlawful retaliation Full Article OPA Press Releases
earn Justice Department Sues to Stop South Florida Tax Return Preparer Engaged in Fraud and Earned Income Credit Schemes By www.justice.gov Published On :: Thu, 28 Aug 2014 14:00:30 EDT The United States has asked a federal court in Miami to permanently bar a South Florida man and his two Miami businesses, Ebenezer Tax Services Inc. and Primo Tax Service Inc., from preparing federal income tax returns for others, the Justice Department announced today. He is alleged to have defrauded the government out of more than $20 million Full Article OPA Press Releases
earn Valensa's Parry Organic Spirulina, Chlorella, Microalgae Earn Non-GMO Project Butterfly By feedproxy.google.com Published On :: Wed, 07 Feb 2018 22:50:00 GMT Valensa International announced Non-GMO Project has been awarded to Valensa’s Organic Spirulina, Chlorella and Microalgae products. Full Article
earn What Can We Learn From The Apple Heart Study? By www.cardiobrief.org Published On :: Wed, 13 Nov 2019 23:16:09 +0000 Do we ever learn from our past mistakes? For many years we believed that technology was an inevitable force for good. It would give us instant access to a near infinite amount of information and allow us to easily and instantly connect with nearly anyone on earth. What could go wrong? The answer is that...Click here to continue reading... Full Article People Places & Events Policy & Ethics Prevention Epidemiology & Outcomes $AAPL Apple Apple Watch technology wearables
earn Nuclear receptor binding factor 2 (NRBF2) is required for learning and memory By feeds.nature.com Published On :: 2020-04-29 Full Article
earn Sleep Learning Gets Real By feeds.nature.com Published On :: 2018-10-16 Experimental techniques demonstrate how to strengthen memories when our brains are off-line Full Article
earn Lifelong Learning By feeds.nature.com Published On :: 2018-10-16 Creating artificial intelligence that continues to adapt Full Article
earn Environmental determinants of cardiovascular disease: lessons learned from air pollution By feeds.nature.com Published On :: 2020-05-07 Full Article
earn Seasonal and pandemic influenza: 100 years of progress, still much to learn By feeds.nature.com Published On :: 2020-04-21 Full Article
earn Associations between sleep bruxism and (peri-)implant complications: lessons learned from a clinical study By www.nature.com Published On :: 2020-01-30 Full Article
earn The COVID-19 Distance Learning: Insight from Ukrainian students By eprints.rclis.org Published On :: Sat, 02 May 2020 08:17:09 +0200 Nenko, Yuliia and Кybalna, Nelia and Snisarenko, Yana The COVID-19 Distance Learning: Insight from Ukrainian students. Revista Brasileira de Educação do Campo, 2020, vol. 5, pp. 1-19. [Journal article (Paginated)] Full Article
earn Accumulating Evidence Using Crowdsourcing and Machine Learning: A Living Bibliography about Existential Risk and Global Catastrophic Risk By feedproxy.google.com Published On :: Feb 3, 2020 Feb 3, 2020The study of existential risk — the risk of human extinction or the collapse of human civilization — has only recently emerged as an integrated field of research, and yet an overwhelming volume of relevant research has already been published. To provide an evidence base for policy and risk analysis, this research should be systematically reviewed. In a systematic review, one of many time-consuming tasks is to read the titles and abstracts of research publications, to see if they meet the inclusion criteria. The authors show how this task can be shared between multiple people (using crowdsourcing) and partially automated (using machine learning), as methods of handling an overwhelming volume of research. Full Article
earn Dental caries experience, care index and restorative index in children with learning disabilities and children without learning disabilities: a systematic review and meta-analysis By feeds.nature.com Published On :: 2020-03-27 Full Article
earn Creating apps with PhoneGap: Lessons learned By www.adobe.com Published On :: Mon Sep 17 11:06:00 UTC 2012 Follow these tips and tricks to develop PhoneGap apps quickly and easily, so they'll perform better than their native counterparts. Full Article
earn Accumulating Evidence Using Crowdsourcing and Machine Learning: A Living Bibliography about Existential Risk and Global Catastrophic Risk By feedproxy.google.com Published On :: Feb 3, 2020 Feb 3, 2020The study of existential risk — the risk of human extinction or the collapse of human civilization — has only recently emerged as an integrated field of research, and yet an overwhelming volume of relevant research has already been published. To provide an evidence base for policy and risk analysis, this research should be systematically reviewed. In a systematic review, one of many time-consuming tasks is to read the titles and abstracts of research publications, to see if they meet the inclusion criteria. The authors show how this task can be shared between multiple people (using crowdsourcing) and partially automated (using machine learning), as methods of handling an overwhelming volume of research. Full Article
earn Learning to unlearn By feedproxy.google.com Published On :: Fri, 07 Dec 2018 00:22:50 +0000 I couple years ago I had lunch with a successful serial entrepreneur in San Francisco. Mid way into the conversation we talked about which ideas get funded on Sand Hill Road and which do not. One thing we both agreed on is that no VC will fund projects without product-market fit. Fascinatingly, the lack of […] The post Learning to unlearn appeared first on Paul Bakaus' blog. Full Article Food for thought User Experience Web
earn Building on the Success of the Earned Income Tax Credit By webfeeds.brookings.edu Published On :: Thu, 19 Jun 2014 00:00:00 -0400 The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) provides a refundable tax credit to lower-income working families. In 2011, the EITC reached 27.9 million tax filers at a total cost of $62.9 billion. Almost 20 percent of tax filers receive the EITC, and the average credit amount is $2,254 (IRS 2013). After expansions to the EITC in the late 1980s through the late 1990s—under Democrat and Republican administrations—the EITC now occupies a central place in the U.S. safety net. Based on the Census Bureau’s 2012 Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM), the EITC keeps 6.5 million people, including 3.3 million children, out of poverty (Center on Budget and Policy Priorities [CBPP] 2014a). No other tax or transfer program prevents more children from living a life of poverty, and only Social Security keeps more people above poverty. Since the EITC is only eligible to tax filers who work, the credit’s impact on poverty takes place through encouraging employment by ensuring greater pay after taxes. The empirical research shows that the tax credit translates into sizable and robust increases in employment (Eissa and Liebman 1996; Meyer and Rosenbaum 2000, 2001). Thus, the credit reduces poverty through two channels: the actual credit, and increases in family earnings. This dual feature gives the EITC a unique place in the U.S. safety net; in contrast, many other programs redistribute income while, at least to some degree, discouraging work. Importantly, transferring income while encouraging work makes the EITC an efficient and cost-effective policy for increasing the after-tax income of low-earning Americans. Yet a program of this size and impact could be more equitable in its reach. Under the current design of the EITC, childless earners and families with only one child, for instance, receive disproportionately lower refunds. In 2014, families with two children (three or more children) are eligible for a maximum credit of $5,460 ($6,143) compared to $3,305 for families with one child. Married couples, despite their larger family sizes, receive only modestly more-generous EITC benefits compared to single filers. Childless earners benefit little from the EITC, and have a maximum credit of only $496—less than 10 percent of the two-child credit. Prominent proposals seek to mitigate these inequalities. President Obama’s fiscal year 2015 budget includes an expansion of the childless EITC, a concept outlined by John Karl Scholz in 2007 in a proposal for The Hamilton Project. Notably, MDRC is currently evaluating Paycheck Plus, a pilot program for an expanded EITC for workers without dependent children, for the New York City Center for Economic Opportunity (MDRC 2014). The recent Hamilton Project proposal for a secondary-earner tax credit addresses the so-called EITC penalty for married couples (Kearney and Turner 2013). And the more generous EITC credit for three or more children was recently enacted as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, and is currently scheduled to sunset in 2017. Considering this broad set of EITC reforms, and recognizing the demonstrated effectiveness of the program as an antipoverty program with numerous benefits, this policy memo proposes an expansion for the largest group of EITC recipients: families with one child. In particular, I propose to expand the one-child schedule to be on par with the two-child schedule, in equivalence scale-adjusted terms. An equivalence scale captures the cost of living for a household of a given size (and demographic composition) relative to the cost of living for a reference household of a single adult, and is a standard component in defining poverty thresholds. The proposal expands the maximum credit for one-child families to $4,641, from $3,305 under current law, an increase of about 40 percent. The expansion will lead to a roughly $1,000 increase in after-tax income for taxpayers in the bottom 40 percent of the income distribution receiving the higher credit. As this paper outlines, the expansion is justified on equity and efficiency grounds. This expansion is anchored in the equity principle in that the generosity of the credit should be proportional to the needs of families of differing sizes; I use the equivalence scale implicit in the poverty thresholds of the Census SPM as a guide for household needs. This proposal is also supported by efficiency principles given the EITC’s demonstrated success at raising labor supply among single mothers. The target population for the proposal is low-income working families with children. Implementing this proposal requires legislative action by the federal government; it is important to note that altering the EITC schedule requires a simple amendment to the tax code, and not a massive overhaul of our nation’s tax system. The revenue cost of the proposal derives from additional federal costs of the EITC, less the additional payroll and ordinary federal income taxes. The private benefits include increases in after-tax income and reductions in poverty. The proposal would also generate social benefits through the spillover effects that the increase in income plays in improving health and children’s cognitive skills (Dahl and Lochner 2012; Evans and Garthwaite 2014; Hoynes, Miller, and Simon forthcoming). Downloads Building on the Success of the Earned Income Tax Credit - Full Text Authors Hilary Hoynes Publication: The Hamilton Project Image Source: Bluestocking Full Article
earn How Second Earners Can Rescue the Middle Class from Stagnant Incomes By webfeeds.brookings.edu Published On :: Tue, 10 Feb 2015 00:00:00 -0500 In his state of the union and his budget, the President spoke of the stagnation of middle class incomes. Whatever growth we have had has not been broadly shared. More than 78% of the growth in GDP between 1979 and 2013 has gone to the top one percent. Even Republicans are beginning to worry about this issue although they have yet to develop concrete proposals to address it. Slow Growth in Incomes Middle class incomes were growing slowly before the recession and have actually declined over the past decade. In addition, according to the New York Times, the proportion of the population with incomes between $35,000 and $100,000 in inflation-adjusted terms fell from 53% in 1967 to 43% in 2013. During the first four decades this was primarily because more people were moving into higher income groups, but more recently it was because they have moved down the ladder, not up. One can define the middle class in many different ways or torture the data in various ways, but there is plenty of evidence that we have a problem. What to Do The most promising approach is what I call “the second earner solution.” For many decades now, the labor force participation rate of prime age men has been falling while that of women has been rising. The entry of so many women into the labor force was the major force propelling whatever growth in middle class incomes occurred up until about 2000. That growth in women’s work has now levelled off. Getting it back on an upward track would do more than any policy I can think of to help the middle class. Imagine a household with one earner making the average wage of today’s worker and spending full-time in the job market. That household will have an income of around $34,000. But if he (or she) has a spouse making a similar amount, the household’s income will double to $68,000. That is why the President’s focus on a second-earner credit of $500, a tripling of the child care tax credit, expanding the Earned Income Tax Credit, and providing paid leave are so important. These policies are all pro-work and research shows they would increase employment. No Marriage = No Second Earner One problem, of course, is that fewer and fewer households contain two potential workers. So it would also help to bring back marriage or at least its first cousin, a stable cohabiting relationship. My ideas on this front are spelled out in my new book, Generation Unbound. In a nutshell, we need to empower women to not have children before they have found a committed partner with whom to raise children in a stable, two-parent family. Whatever the other benefits of two parents, they have twice as much time and potentially twice as much income. Other Needed Responses Shouldn’t we also worry about the wages or the employment of men? Of course. But an increase in, say, the minimum wage or a better collective bargaining environment or more job training will have far smaller effects than “the second earner solution.” In addition, the decline in male employment is related to still more difficult problems such as high rates of incarceration and the failure of men to take advantage of postsecondary education as much as women have. Still the two-earner solution should not be pursued in isolation. In the short-term, a stronger recovery from the recession is needed and in the longer-term, more effective investments in education, research, infrastructure, and in labor market institutions that produce more widely-shared growth, as argued by the Commission on Inclusive Prosperity. But do we really expect families to wait for these long-term policies to pay off? It could be decades. In the meantime, the President’s proposals to make work more appealing to existing or potential second earners deserves more attention. Authors Isabel V. Sawhill Publication: Real Clear Markets Image Source: © Kevin Lamarque / Reuters Full Article
earn COVID-19 has thrust universities into online learning—how should they adapt? By webfeeds.brookings.edu Published On :: Mon, 30 Mar 2020 17:13:44 +0000 There is one golden rule for flying with an infant or toddler: Do whatever it takes to get through the flight peacefully with no harm done. Every parent knows this means relaxing their standards. Planting your kid in front of an iPad screen or giving them not so healthy treats might not win you a… Full Article
earn Accumulating Evidence Using Crowdsourcing and Machine Learning: A Living Bibliography about Existential Risk and Global Catastrophic Risk By feedproxy.google.com Published On :: Feb 3, 2020 Feb 3, 2020The study of existential risk — the risk of human extinction or the collapse of human civilization — has only recently emerged as an integrated field of research, and yet an overwhelming volume of relevant research has already been published. To provide an evidence base for policy and risk analysis, this research should be systematically reviewed. In a systematic review, one of many time-consuming tasks is to read the titles and abstracts of research publications, to see if they meet the inclusion criteria. The authors show how this task can be shared between multiple people (using crowdsourcing) and partially automated (using machine learning), as methods of handling an overwhelming volume of research. Full Article
earn Accumulating Evidence Using Crowdsourcing and Machine Learning: A Living Bibliography about Existential Risk and Global Catastrophic Risk By feedproxy.google.com Published On :: Feb 3, 2020 Feb 3, 2020The study of existential risk — the risk of human extinction or the collapse of human civilization — has only recently emerged as an integrated field of research, and yet an overwhelming volume of relevant research has already been published. To provide an evidence base for policy and risk analysis, this research should be systematically reviewed. In a systematic review, one of many time-consuming tasks is to read the titles and abstracts of research publications, to see if they meet the inclusion criteria. The authors show how this task can be shared between multiple people (using crowdsourcing) and partially automated (using machine learning), as methods of handling an overwhelming volume of research. Full Article
earn Accumulating Evidence Using Crowdsourcing and Machine Learning: A Living Bibliography about Existential Risk and Global Catastrophic Risk By feedproxy.google.com Published On :: Feb 3, 2020 Feb 3, 2020The study of existential risk — the risk of human extinction or the collapse of human civilization — has only recently emerged as an integrated field of research, and yet an overwhelming volume of relevant research has already been published. To provide an evidence base for policy and risk analysis, this research should be systematically reviewed. In a systematic review, one of many time-consuming tasks is to read the titles and abstracts of research publications, to see if they meet the inclusion criteria. The authors show how this task can be shared between multiple people (using crowdsourcing) and partially automated (using machine learning), as methods of handling an overwhelming volume of research. Full Article
earn Accumulating Evidence Using Crowdsourcing and Machine Learning: A Living Bibliography about Existential Risk and Global Catastrophic Risk By feedproxy.google.com Published On :: Feb 3, 2020 Feb 3, 2020The study of existential risk — the risk of human extinction or the collapse of human civilization — has only recently emerged as an integrated field of research, and yet an overwhelming volume of relevant research has already been published. To provide an evidence base for policy and risk analysis, this research should be systematically reviewed. In a systematic review, one of many time-consuming tasks is to read the titles and abstracts of research publications, to see if they meet the inclusion criteria. The authors show how this task can be shared between multiple people (using crowdsourcing) and partially automated (using machine learning), as methods of handling an overwhelming volume of research. Full Article
earn Accumulating Evidence Using Crowdsourcing and Machine Learning: A Living Bibliography about Existential Risk and Global Catastrophic Risk By feedproxy.google.com Published On :: Feb 3, 2020 Feb 3, 2020The study of existential risk — the risk of human extinction or the collapse of human civilization — has only recently emerged as an integrated field of research, and yet an overwhelming volume of relevant research has already been published. To provide an evidence base for policy and risk analysis, this research should be systematically reviewed. In a systematic review, one of many time-consuming tasks is to read the titles and abstracts of research publications, to see if they meet the inclusion criteria. The authors show how this task can be shared between multiple people (using crowdsourcing) and partially automated (using machine learning), as methods of handling an overwhelming volume of research. Full Article
earn The EARN IT Act is a disaster amid the COVID-19 crisis By webfeeds.brookings.edu Published On :: Mon, 04 May 2020 13:16:20 +0000 Before the novel coronavirus arrived on its shores, the United States had spent decades becoming a heavily digitized society. Now, the pandemic is deepening that dependence on digital technology, converting millions of in-person interactions into online communications. That dependence means good cybersecurity, including strong encryption, has become more crucial than ever. With millions of Americans… Full Article
earn Perez expects to learn on job in Australia By en.espnf1.com Published On :: Sun, 01 Mar 2015 18:17:28 GMT Sergio Perez says Force India will be learning on the job at the Australian Grand Prix but feels confident the team knows the areas it needs to improve on the VJM08 Full Article
earn Accumulating Evidence Using Crowdsourcing and Machine Learning: A Living Bibliography about Existential Risk and Global Catastrophic Risk By www.belfercenter.org Published On :: Feb 3, 2020 Feb 3, 2020The study of existential risk — the risk of human extinction or the collapse of human civilization — has only recently emerged as an integrated field of research, and yet an overwhelming volume of relevant research has already been published. To provide an evidence base for policy and risk analysis, this research should be systematically reviewed. In a systematic review, one of many time-consuming tasks is to read the titles and abstracts of research publications, to see if they meet the inclusion criteria. The authors show how this task can be shared between multiple people (using crowdsourcing) and partially automated (using machine learning), as methods of handling an overwhelming volume of research. Full Article
earn What growing up with a sports-obsessed mother taught me about life and learning By www.thenewsminute.com Published On :: Wed, 27 Jun 2018 06:42:15 +0000 BlogWhile Amma is passionate about sports, Appa just cannot understand what the hype is all about. But she has allies in my sister and me.SS VenkateswaranAmma looking at the Football World Cup schedule pasted on the door.It was June 9, 1990. Cameroon had done the unthinkable. They had defeated World Cup champions Argentina, led by the great Diego Maradona. Two images remain engraved in my memory forever. One that was playing on the television - Claudio Caniggia brought down by Benjamin Massing, which also meant the end of my footballing hero Maradona’s career. Another was playing at home the tension between Amma and Appa. Appa believed that sports were another form of entertainment (now that I think of it he was so right!!). He ardently believed that it makes us unproductive. He simply could not understand the 'adrenaline rush' that is associated with sports. And, on the other hand, Amma loved sports and learned to appreciate games like cricket, football and tennis by observing and listening to the commentary. She loved Sunil Gavaskar, Maradona and Martina Navratilova. Appa, whose sleep was broken by the commotion, was surprised to see his son crying, but was aghast to see his otherwise stoic wife heartbroken for an alien sport and for a faraway country, Argentina. I will never forget his reaction all my life. Amma, Meenakshi, born in Coimbatore, was born in a middle-class Tamil family. She was a promising student; however, economic conditions and the general apathy towards girl children’s education means she did not study beyond Class 10. But that did not stop her from learning. Binaca Geetmala and Ameen Sayani were her windows to Bollywood. After her marriage, radio commentary became her medium to fall in love with cricket. The Football World Cup and Wimbledon television telecast helped her fall in love with more 'alien' sports like tennis and football. The fact that her husband was not attracted to sports meant that she learned about the game by meticulously watching the proceedings and listening to the commentary closely. She would follow it up by reading about it in the newspaper or a sports magazine. She often tells me how she struggled to understand the idea of a deuce and advantage in tennis as she was not aware of the existence of a word ‘deuce’. It took her a great bit of persistent observation to decipher this unique format in tennis to break a tie. Amma at the Centre Court in Wimbledon. At times her battle was lonely as not many in the family had similar likings as her. It was not until my sister and I grew up that she found someone to share her passion for sports with. It is with extreme doggedness that she seeks to learn new things. Years later we went to see Wimbledon; we saw a game at the Centre Court. She was as excited as a child when we got tickets for the London Olympics. I had promised her a trip to Europe and asked her to select the places of her choice. She chose Switzerland (her love for Bollywood, I guess), Paris and then she asked me if we could watch a football match at Camp Nou. She wanted to see her favourite Lionel Messi play. Amma and the author at the London Olympics. This year, I am home in Coimbatore for the Football World Cup. Amma has meticulously updated her knowledge about the teams (Panama and Iceland playing their first World Cup) and had stuck the schedule of the tournament on the door. I ask her who should win. Amma says, "I want Messi to win, a player of his calibre needs a cup to sign off. A bit like Tendulkar needed a cup before he retired." How could I argue with her? Nothing has changed - her spirit, her keenness to learn and her strong opinion. I remember she always made coffee for me during the late-night games. I told her to take a nap for I can wake her up and make coffee for her; after all, I can do this bit for the lady who taught me to observe, learn, and keep learning. She is still a child, and I am holding on to the one in me. SS Venkateswaran returned to India after an 8-year stint in the UK. Before moving to Bengaluru, he will watch the Football World Cup 2018 with his Amma in Coimbatore. Full Article
earn Lessons we can learn from the pandemic: A teacher writes to her students By www.thenewsminute.com Published On :: Sun, 05 Apr 2020 12:46:18 +0000 CoronavirusFrom how different governments have acted to conspiracy theories and realising that we can be self-sufficient, here are some takeaways from the COVID-19 crisis.Shakti SwaminathanImage for representation: PTIDear students, I trust all of you are keeping safe and healthy. You are still so young, but yet forced to witness so much turmoil and have thus evolved into thinking women (or in your words, ‘adult’.) While you were deciding between watching another episode of Sex Education or sleep, you were shaken out of your reverie and forced to reckon with the world – to fight for your freedom, your rights and now survive. Did I jinx it when I gave my farewell speech, saying that you had seen it all? From Brexit, Hong Kong protests, repeal of Article 370 in Kashmir, Revolution of Sudan, the assassination of Baghdadi, the crushing economic recession and the anti-CAA protests? Not in our wildest imagination did we think that the worst was yet to come, that we would one day be witness to a pandemic, a World War like situation with the entire globe shutting down. While being torn between my desire to consume more and more news, and drown in escalating anxiety, and resist the urge not to, for my own sanity, I couldn’t help but make a list of the lessons that we can learn from the pandemic. This pandemic is a perfect example of The Butterfly Effect – when a butterfly flaps its wings in one part of the world, it causes tremors on another, says Chaos Theory. COVID-19 has shown us the reach of the growing tentacles of globalisation, our relatedness and how everything is connected. All our actions have effects. We often take the World Wars for granted, don’t we? It had become another page in our history textbook, another date to remember and yet another pointless exam answer to write. But now we can understand how it would have been for people to live through the wars. To worry about resources, to scramble for good news, and hope in the face of crippling uncertainty. The Government is important – when we are in despair, we turn to the state for support. Only the state can pass the right policies, keep the system running and take care of its citizens. And this is why it’s in our own best interest that we stay abreast of news and use that information to make important choices. To vote. To exercise our right wisely and choose the best. While exposing the importance of the state the pandemic has also given rise to one major thought – which form of government works best? Communist countries with robust public health systems like China, Cuba and Vietnam have done very well in containing the disease, while neo-liberal democracies like Italy, Spain and the US have floundered. Is there a lesson here? Can there be too much democracy? Is the cost of a free and open society, a total disregard for community? Is there something utterly irresponsible about individual freedom? To take the US as an example, even while the number of cases were skyrocketing in New York and the government was pleading with people to practise social distancing, college students were seen frolicking on beaches and in pubs, indulging in spring break shenanigans and licking toilet bowls as a part of #CoronaChallenge. We now know what oppression feels like. Lockdown used to be the parlance of the Kashmiris. We now know what it means. Gaza. Palestine. Syria. Now that our lives have been painfully disrupted, we have a taste of what it is to lose freedom. And remember, we have only lost our freedom of movement. Did China conspire to do all this? Was COVID-19 created by China to choke the world and attain global domination? Was the virus created in a bio-research facility in Wuhan to be unleashed on ‘troublesome’ Hong Kongers and snuff out democracy forever? China’s successful handling of the crisis and subsequent closing of its international borders has given rise to many WhatsApp forwards and articles insinuating that the Chinese orchestrated the pandemic. Apparently, Chinese millionaires have bought shares in crashing companies worldwide ensuring China remains unscathed in the global recession that is sure to follow. Beijing hasn’t recorded too many cases and was never locked down. How was that possible? Well, we will ever know the truth. It’s perhaps also foolish to indulge in conspiracy theories, especially today when the fake news infodemic seems more lethal than the actual disease. In the face of growing racial discrimination, it’s best we ignore these theories and focus on reviving our societies instead. When we heard about the lockdown, what did we worry about most? Contracting the virus or the effect the lockdown could have on our minds? Most illnesses kill the mind before getting to our body. Is it still all in the mind then? Mental health is as important as physical health, if not more. Guess who is having the last laugh now? History’s longest and happiest social distancers – Kim Jong-Un and the Sentinelese of course (separately, not together though)! Oblivious to the outside world and happy to be isolated. Capitalism can be aggressive. Capitalism can kill people – America, the country that has never had qualms over waging wars against weaker countries (as long as it’s not on its soil) and destroying their economy to smithereens (while keeping their economy intact) – America that prides itself on being the stuff that dreams are made of – America that makes a hue and cry about a scrawny terrorist killing 10 people – is now grappling with an unprecedented crisis on its hand, with 500 deaths each day. For a long time, they chose to ignore the crisis, called it the ‘Chinese virus’ and lived in denial. Also, they could not bear the thought of their malls and merchandise coming to a grinding halt – after all that’s the machine that runs America isn’t it? The country with the highest GDP in the world. Alarming death rates have finally opened the government’s eyes and pushed them to place importance on public welfare over economy. It’s easy to pin all the blame on Trump, but it reeks of something more sinister, the corrupt moral fabric of America. The UK in order to not pick up the tab (since the government sponsors the NHS) decided to go for the long haul or work at herd immunity. Social Darwinism. Let life go on. Corona will kill the weak, the fittest will survive and the rest will develop immunity, was the policy. So who will bite the dust? The poor and the old, of course. It sounded like Hitler was espousing his model for superior genes all over again. One thing is for sure. This pandemic is changing the world irrevocably. At a personal level we may now choose to be more mindful of our health and reorganise our priorities. At the global level, there will probably be two kinds of government control – greater surveillance of citizens at the cost of individual freedom and maybe tighter borders. Is social distancing giving rise to national isolation? Is nature telling us something? Have we been grounded to repent for what we have done to the planet? Perhaps we are the virus and corona is trying to get rid of us. The surreal image of Olive Ridley turtles nesting along the beaches of Bhubaneswar peacefully, for probably the first time in their life, is testimony. The difference has not been more clear. What is essential and what is not. While we recognise that doctors, nurses, health workers, police, researchers, cashiers, grocers, farmers, journalists and teachers are the essential services of today, it must be also taken into account that they are also the least paid. The right to Internet is a fundamental, inalienable right. COVID-19 has been a great equaliser – it can infect the homeless man on the street and the Prince of England. However, it is a rich man’s disease – it has come from foreign travel. Yet who seems to be paying the price? The hapless migrants who had disinfectant sprayed on them for no fault of theirs. If we cared so much shouldn’t we have sprayed it on the NRIs and tourists who came from abroad? Inequality is the biggest problem in our country. I think we finally realise the true cost of development. Did we really need that flyover? Or that mono-rail for that matter? Should we be spending Rs 3,000 crore on a statue while our health expenditure is only 2% of India’s GDP? And should we elect such a government that chooses to do so? Countries such as South Korea, Vietnam, Singapore, Taiwan and Hong Kong have done well in mitigating the crisis than much richer European countries and the US. Which brings us back to the question – what makes a country ‘developed’? I’ve been curious of the crow sitting on the branch of my mango tree. Does it wonder where the humans have gone? Do the street dogs wish for our presence? What was running in the mind of the civet cat when it walked down a street in Kerala’s Kozhikode? Did they think it was the apocalypse or did they celebrate their freedom? It’s time we check our privilege – we can socially distance because we can afford to. We have savings. We have enough resources to even bake cakes and post it on social media. It was also privilege to hang out with friends and to explore aisles and aisles of our favourite snack. It’s a privilege to say goodbye. Indigenous people are right – we need to be in tune with nature. Listen to it, not encroach on it. The more we eat into the territories of wild animals and snatch their homes, the more trouble we will find ourselves in. If nothing else, this pandemic has made us self-sufficient. We can cook, clean and take care of ourselves, and sustainably too. And no, we do not need to shop so much online. We are the books we read, the movies we watch and the music we listen to. We are the art we create and the craft we make. In the darkest of times we turned to art to keep us alive and may we never forget that. The world will never be the same again. You young women are inheriting a brand new world. Rich from this experience, I know you will make a difference. May we emerge scathed but stronger. Views expressed are the author’s own. Body 2: Full Article
earn Accumulating Evidence Using Crowdsourcing and Machine Learning: A Living Bibliography about Existential Risk and Global Catastrophic Risk By feedproxy.google.com Published On :: Feb 3, 2020 Feb 3, 2020The study of existential risk — the risk of human extinction or the collapse of human civilization — has only recently emerged as an integrated field of research, and yet an overwhelming volume of relevant research has already been published. To provide an evidence base for policy and risk analysis, this research should be systematically reviewed. In a systematic review, one of many time-consuming tasks is to read the titles and abstracts of research publications, to see if they meet the inclusion criteria. The authors show how this task can be shared between multiple people (using crowdsourcing) and partially automated (using machine learning), as methods of handling an overwhelming volume of research. Full Article
earn Accumulating Evidence Using Crowdsourcing and Machine Learning: A Living Bibliography about Existential Risk and Global Catastrophic Risk By feedproxy.google.com Published On :: Feb 3, 2020 Feb 3, 2020The study of existential risk — the risk of human extinction or the collapse of human civilization — has only recently emerged as an integrated field of research, and yet an overwhelming volume of relevant research has already been published. To provide an evidence base for policy and risk analysis, this research should be systematically reviewed. In a systematic review, one of many time-consuming tasks is to read the titles and abstracts of research publications, to see if they meet the inclusion criteria. The authors show how this task can be shared between multiple people (using crowdsourcing) and partially automated (using machine learning), as methods of handling an overwhelming volume of research. Full Article
earn Accumulating Evidence Using Crowdsourcing and Machine Learning: A Living Bibliography about Existential Risk and Global Catastrophic Risk By feedproxy.google.com Published On :: Feb 3, 2020 Feb 3, 2020The study of existential risk — the risk of human extinction or the collapse of human civilization — has only recently emerged as an integrated field of research, and yet an overwhelming volume of relevant research has already been published. To provide an evidence base for policy and risk analysis, this research should be systematically reviewed. In a systematic review, one of many time-consuming tasks is to read the titles and abstracts of research publications, to see if they meet the inclusion criteria. The authors show how this task can be shared between multiple people (using crowdsourcing) and partially automated (using machine learning), as methods of handling an overwhelming volume of research. Full Article
earn The EARN IT Act is a disaster amid the COVID-19 crisis By webfeeds.brookings.edu Published On :: Mon, 04 May 2020 13:16:20 +0000 Before the novel coronavirus arrived on its shores, the United States had spent decades becoming a heavily digitized society. Now, the pandemic is deepening that dependence on digital technology, converting millions of in-person interactions into online communications. That dependence means good cybersecurity, including strong encryption, has become more crucial than ever. With millions of Americans… Full Article
earn The EARN IT Act is a disaster amid the COVID-19 crisis By webfeeds.brookings.edu Published On :: Mon, 04 May 2020 13:16:20 +0000 Before the novel coronavirus arrived on its shores, the United States had spent decades becoming a heavily digitized society. Now, the pandemic is deepening that dependence on digital technology, converting millions of in-person interactions into online communications. That dependence means good cybersecurity, including strong encryption, has become more crucial than ever. With millions of Americans… Full Article
earn Rewarding Work: The Impact of the Earned Income Tax Credit in Chicago By webfeeds.brookings.edu Published On :: Thu, 01 Nov 2001 00:00:00 -0500 The federal Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) will boost earnings for over 18 million low-income working families in the U.S. by more than $30 billion this year. This survey finds that the EITC provided a $737 million boost to the Chicago regional economy in 1998, and lifted purchasing power in the city of Chicago by an average of $2 million per square mile. Large numbers of Low-income working families lived not only in inner-city Chicago neighborhoods, but also in smaller cities throughout the region like Aurora, Joliet, Elgin and Waukegan. The survey concludes by describing steps that state and local leaders could take to build on existing efforts to link working families to the EITC, such as increasing resources for free tax preparation services, helping EITC recipients to open bank accounts, and expanding and making refundable the Illinois state EITC. EITC National ReportRead the national analysis of the Earned Income Tax Credit in 100 metropolitan areas. It finds that the EITC provided a $17 billion stimulus to these metro areas in 1998, and that the majority of EITC dollars flowed to the suburbs. National Report 10/01 EITC Regional ReportsRead the local analysis of the Earned Income Tax Credit in 29 metropolitan areas. Using IRS data to analyze the spatial distribution of working poor families, the surveys find that the EITC is a significant federal antipoverty investment in cities and their regions. 29 Metro Area Reports 6/01 Downloads Download Authors Alan BerubeBenjamin Forman Full Article
earn School closures, government responses, and learning inequality around the world during COVID-19 By webfeeds.brookings.edu Published On :: Tue, 14 Apr 2020 19:27:29 +0000 According to UNESCO, as of April 14, 188 countries around the world have closed schools nationwide, affecting over 1.5 billion learners and representing more than 91 percent of total enrolled learners. The world has never experienced such a dramatic impact on human capital investment, and the consequences of COVID-19 on economic, social, and political indicators… Full Article
earn 10 things we learned at Brookings in March By webfeeds.brookings.edu Published On :: Wed, 01 Apr 2020 16:00:30 +0000 March 2020 was the month in which the World Health Organization declared coronavirus a global pandemic. Before and since, Brookings experts have examined different policy responses to the widening global crisis. For more, visit the COVID-19 page on our website. 1. What grocery workers need as they work the front lines of COVID-19 From left:… Full Article
earn Charts of the Week: Coronavirus’s impacts on learning, employment, and deaths of Black Americans By webfeeds.brookings.edu Published On :: Fri, 17 Apr 2020 18:43:25 +0000 In this week's edition of Charts of the Week, a look at some of the impacts that the coronavirus pandemic is having on various policy areas, including education, jobs, and racial inequality. Learn more from Brookings scholars about the global response to coronavirus (COVID-19). Learning inequality during COVID-19 Worldwide nearly 190 countries have closed schools,… Full Article
earn 10 things we learned at Brookings in April By webfeeds.brookings.edu Published On :: Thu, 30 Apr 2020 16:09:07 +0000 April 2020 was another month in which Brookings experts produced a wealth of research and analysis about addressing the COVID-19 crisis, both in the U.S. and globally. But research on other topics continues. Below is a selection of new research across a range of topics. 1. The Federal Reserve's response to the COVID-19 crisis “The Federal… Full Article
earn Playful learning in everyday places during the COVID-19 crisis—and beyond By webfeeds.brookings.edu Published On :: Tue, 07 Apr 2020 20:19:31 +0000 Under normal circumstances, children spend 80 percent of their waking time outside the classroom. The COVID-19 pandemic has quite abruptly turned that 80 percent into 100 percent. Across the U.S., schools and child care centers have been mandated to close, and children of all ages are now home full time. This leaves many families, especially… Full Article
earn Seattle: Still Yearning To Be Free By webfeeds.brookings.edu Published On :: Thu, 02 Nov 2006 00:00:00 -0500 Borders and fences, amnesty and enforcement, earned legalization and guest workers—such is the shorthand in debating immigration today.Yet, we talk little about refugees.It may be because refugees comprise only about 10 percent of annual immigration to America. It may also be because their entry to the United States is rarely debated. Accommodating refugees represents the best ideals of this nation. Fleeing war, famine, religious or ethnic persecution, and, in some cases, former American foreign-policy engagement, refugees are the epitome of Emma Lazarus' words, engraved on the Statue of Liberty, of the "tired, poor, and huddled masses yearning to be free." A replica of said statue is set to be returned to its place on the beach at Alki this spring. And it's appropriate, as the Puget Sound region increasingly accommodates many fleeing the worst life has to offer. From 1983 to 2004, the Seattle region ranked No. 5 nationally in the resettlement of refugees, behind the big immigrant gateways of New York, Los Angeles and Orange County in California, and Chicago. However, Seattle's total foreign-born ranking is only 23rd, as refugees there comprise much more of the immigrant population than most other places around the country. The region's refugee population is probably more important to the growth of the region than in other places. And it has been growing over the past 20 years. Of the some 50,000 refugees resettled in Seattle over that period, fully one-third are from Southeast Asia—including Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos—and 42 percent come from the remnants of the USSR. Other sizable populations come from the former Yugoslavia, Somalia and Ethiopia. Metropolitan Seattle—along with Minneapolis-St. Paul, Atlanta, Sacramento and Portland—has progressively resettled more refugees over time. Now, one in five U.S. refugees is initially placed in one of these metropolitan areas, up from only 9 percent in the 1980s and 13 percent in the 1990s. And these refugees are different than in the past. Because of changes in the conflicts beleaguering our planet, refugees admitted to the United States in recent years increasingly hail from African countries confronting civil conflict. Like earlier waves, these newest refugees are determined to pursue, but unprepared for, life and work in the United States and need assistance as they settle into new communities and become active members of local schools, workplaces and neighborhoods. Like other foreign-born migrants, Seattle's refugees have been quickly plugging into the economic life of the region, from the bustling International District downtown to the polyglot scene that is the Crossroads Mall in Bellevue. Seattle's healthy local labor market has helped foster their adjustment as many refugees have found foothold jobs in hotels, restaurants, shops, health services, food production and preparation. Perhaps not long term, but these jobs are key steps on the road to economic independence and upward mobility. In any event, they are a far cry from the situations refugees left behind. Local service agencies and assistance organizations, religious and ethnically based, play a strong role in the resettlement process. These groups do the local work of connecting refugees to employers, housing, health care and language training and otherwise aid their progress toward self-sufficiency. And they are careful to do it in a linguistically and culturally appropriate way. And other partners exist. The Seattle Police Department reaches out to refugee and immigrant communities to deal with the potential downfalls of being a stranger in a strange land, specifically addressing gang and drug problems and launching efforts to prevent violence against refugees and immigrants. The state Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction has a multiyear program to target schools with large numbers of immigrant and refugee families that aims to improve schooling outcomes for high-school students and increase graduation rates. Involving parents is key to that success, as is the specialized training that tutors receive. Programs like these—involving few tax dollars but reaping considerable economic rewards for all the region—are in the best interest of Seattle's residents, whether they are refugee newcomers or families that have lived in the region for generations. Though Seattle fights about highways and stadiums, transit and buses, the entire Puget Sound should proclaim itself in the vanguard on this issue, a beacon, like the statue, of what is right. Authors Audrey SingerDavid Jackson Publication: The Seattle Times Full Article
earn COVID-19 and school closures: What can countries learn from past emergencies? By webfeeds.brookings.edu Published On :: Tue, 31 Mar 2020 15:59:56 +0000 As the COVID-19 pandemic spreads around the world, and across every state in the U.S., school systems are shutting their doors. To date, the education community has largely focused on the different strategies to continue schooling, including lively discussions on the role of education technology versus distribution of printed paper packets. But there has been… Full Article
earn Playful Learning Landscapes: At the intersection of education and placemaking By webfeeds.brookings.edu Published On :: Tue, 11 Feb 2020 18:35:15 +0000 Playful Learning Landscapes lies at the intersection of developmental science and transformative placemaking to help urban leaders and practitioners advance and scale evidence-based approaches to create vibrant public spaces that promote learning and generate a sense of community ownership and pride. On Wednesday, February 26, the Center for Universal Education and the Bass Center for… Full Article
earn Time to talk, play, and create: Supporting children’s learning at home By webfeeds.brookings.edu Published On :: Thu, 19 Mar 2020 15:14:26 +0000 I am a “glass is half full” kind of person. While uncertainty and fear from the coronavirus epidemic is of course top of mind, I have also seen many acts of human kindness on social media and on trips to the supermarket, library, or just walking my dog that give me hope. One of the… Full Article
earn Playful learning in everyday places during the COVID-19 crisis—and beyond By webfeeds.brookings.edu Published On :: Tue, 07 Apr 2020 20:19:31 +0000 Under normal circumstances, children spend 80 percent of their waking time outside the classroom. The COVID-19 pandemic has quite abruptly turned that 80 percent into 100 percent. Across the U.S., schools and child care centers have been mandated to close, and children of all ages are now home full time. This leaves many families, especially… Full Article
