Can we start taking actions that benefit the well-being of people, rather than continue to make unreasonable excuses?

Daylight-Saving Time (DST) is a system done by certain countries and/or states around the world where time is adjusted by an hour to provide “extended” daylight hours. To have a better understanding of the system, read about it or watch a video. 

An important piece of information to point out is that the countries that are farther away from the equator, tend to use the DST system as the tilt position creates the difference in the amount of daylight that can come through. However, the countries that are closer to the equator experience no differences in daylight as the position is mostly the same throughout the year (since they get the most light from the sun year-round).

When DST is in use, everyone’s routine becomes disordered because of the time difference. Additionally, many studies have shown that DST increases health risks, high rates of vehicle accidents, and depression continues its exponential growth. The government continued the system despite receiving factual information about the DST’s harmful effects. Unfortunately, the reason behind this is economics, a social science that studies people’s relationships with demands, supplies, and profits. 

In recent events, the Sunshine Protection Act was proposed for permanent DST. Instead of changing the time twice a year, it will only be changed once a year. The Act is currently not active, and I feel anxious about it. The Sunshine Protection Act for me is one step closer to acknowledging people’s health over profit. Any small change is progress. 

For more information look through these pages; “The History of Daylight Saving Time,” “How Daylight Saving Time Impacts your Sleep – and What to Do about it,” and “The Dark Side of Daylight Saving Time – What You Need to Know”.

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Class Predestination

My name is Emily. I’m from Omaha, Nebraska. I have never left the United States, but Queen Elizabeth II is my cousin. Well–She is my cousin…24 times removed. However, this also makes me distantly related to most of European royalty and celebrities of European descent. I can bet I am distantly related to many of my classmates if I cared to look back far enough.

EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND – JUNE 28: Queen Elizabeth II attends an Armed Forces Act of Loyalty Parade at the Palace of Holyroodhouse on June 28, 2022 in Edinburgh, United Kingdom. Members of the Royal Family are spending a Royal Week in Scotland, carrying out a number of engagements between Monday June 27 and Friday July 01, 2022. (Photo by Jane Barlow – WPA Pool/Getty Images)

How did I come across this information?

My family have always been interested in our geneology, so I decided to do my part in mapping my family tree after I took a DNA test a few years ago. I am extremely privileged, as my ancestors’ records on my English side have been well-preserved, which is not the case for many countries due to war, colonization, and many other factors. Long story short, Queen Elizabeth and I share a 25th Great Grandfather, Reginald Fitzroy, who lived in the 1100s. Thus, we are cousins 24 times removed. Don’t even ask if we’re 2nd cousins or anything, I still have trouble remembering the concept.

What does this mean?

What this means is that, although Queen Elizabeth II lived a drastically different life from anything I will ever encounter, at some point in time we were connected. Our shared ancestor was deemed important because his father was king, who was king because of a system designed by humans. This system was put in place to make sense of the world, some people chose to follow along and others resisted. It just so happens I am descended from those who resisted and fled to the New World, while Elizabeth’s ancestors played into the system due to their advantaged rank and came out successful. Ultimately, the people for whom the system works are the ones who will push for its continuance. We are the victims of the consequences of decisions that were made before our time. As a result, Elizabeth was born into a world of luxury and was forced into the role of queen at 26 due to her uncle’s abdication. As a result, I was born into a lower class family in middle America who was forced into the role of financial supporter for my parents at the age of 16. I have the opportunity to recover from this, but I am starting the race already behind because of my socioeconomic position–And even then, I am still more privileged than others because of my race.

Did you know that, according to a Georgetown University study, “wealth is stronger indicator of success than intelligence.” Now, I know that Queen Elizabeth II was a smart lady, but I know that I am too, and so are billions of other folks across the world. How many people have forfeited their education, simply because it was too expensive? How many people have given up time with family, vacations, and job opportunities purely due to financial cost? The Royal family supported and still supports a system that keeps this class divide alive. It is humans who determine which of us are important, so it is up to us to collectively decide that those in lower socioeconomic classes are just as worthy as the Queen of England, deserving of financial security. How many geniuses has the world missed out on due to them being poor? Class is a social construct; therefore, we have the right to redefine our old work for improved constructs.

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How to talk Minnesota and Why?

Cultural communication is very important. You can find more information from this link, “Cross-Cultural Communication and Cultural Understand.” The ability to communicate with cultural boundaries leads to stronger relationships among diverse people with diverse backgrounds. “Different cultures live and work together closely. When you adapt to various cultural norms, you put the other person at ease, better facilitate open conversation, become more productive as a team, and communicate more effectively overall.” Cultural communications give people the opportunity to understand language barriers, multicultural nonverbal cues, and work together to understand ideas. This also allows people to avoid miscommunications as this is usually the major issue with diversity. As this country becomes more and more diverse, it is important to be able to converse in cultural communication whether it’s your personal life or professional life. Some main cultural communications you can try to understand is the language, nonverbal communications and social norms. Lets give Minnesota for example.

From “How to talk Minnesota” by TpT we learn Minnesota culture and the Minnesota way. Here are a few Minnesota culture you can learn next time you visit Minnesota. There are three work forces, “You bet, That’s different, and Whatever.” You can memorize and try to speak Minnesotan just by using these three work forces. Besides talking, body language is also important to learn. Learning non-verbal-communication the Minnesotan way will also be helpful. Here are some non-verbal Minnesotan way, “Keep your distance, avoid touching people, shake hands quickly, and keep arms at sides or folded.” Minnesotans when having conversations make very little eye contact and barely face each other. One last Minnesota way I like to share that you can use. Did you know that abruptly accepting offers right away when being offered anything is not the Minnesotan way. Minnesotan never accept food or any offer until asked the third time. Yes, this is true. I hope these tips are useful for you when you visit Minnesota.

Women’s Safety When Exercising Outdoors

Getting exercise is crucial for anyone who wants to stay healthy and live a healthy lifestyle. Many people enjoy running. Not everyone has access to or the want to run on a treadmill indoors, so many take to outdoor running/jogging for their exercise. The downside to this is that it isn’t always safe for people, especially women, to go out alone for a run, especially at night. Women are more likely than men to be harassed, stalked, or even sexually assaulted or murdered on any given night they go for a run. This is why many are discouraged from doing so. Many will only go if they have someone with them and/or are taking a very public route during broad daylight.

Women’s Running has an article with many statistics regarding women’s safety while running: https://www.womensrunning.com/health/statistics-runner-safety-stay-safer/

Some alarming statistics from the article include

• 34% of women feel afraid exercising outdoors alone
• 37% feel threatened sometimes.
• 60% curtail outdoor activity or limit to only daytime
• 50% feel more anxious when hearing about violent crime in the area
• Over 90% feel at least a little bit safer when outdoors with other people

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Women should always be prepared for the worst if they choose to exercise outdoors by themselves, especially if at night. This article provides insight into how they can take steps to be safer when doing so: https://www.verywellfit.com/tips-for-running-alone-2911825

The article states that women should

• Trust their instincts
• Inform others of their route and expected time being gone
• Vary familiar routes
• Carry ID and phone
• Be visible and loud
• Listen to surroundings
• Run with their pet if they have one
• Learn self-defense

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While it isn’t fair that women should have to worry so much about being in danger while exercising alone outdoors, they need to know how to be as safe as possible and protect themselves. Knowing the basics of how to stay safe outdoors can help reduce any preexisting fears and make running alone more enjoyable.

You Cannot Go Where You Cannot Imagine Going

By Leslie MacKenzie

In 2019, a Washington Post-Kaiser Family Foundation poll found that 76% of respondents would describe climate change as a crisis or a major problem. Despite that large number, 62% said tackling climate change would require little or no sacrifice on their part.

More than half of respondents said they wouldn’t pay anything out of their pocket to fix the problem. Fewer than half of respondents were willing to pay $2/month as a tax on their electric bill; about 25% said they would pay $10 a month.

Someone else should pay … companies that burn fossil fuels and the wealthy. Those with the least incentive and the most to lose should take the lead, Americans have decided.

Not surprisingly, that hasn’t happened.

When Everything Changes…

One day you are excited and everything is perfect all is right in the world. Then, that 10 minute procedure turns into 1 hour and you get escorted into a different room. You know something is wrong but no one tells you what’s going on, all you see is the box of tissues next to you.

Finally, the provider comes in to inform you that your child’s heart didn’t develop properly. Your whole world stops, fear consumes you, all logic is gone, and the grieving starts. It’s not that you lost your baby but you have lost a healthy baby the one thing all expecting parents say “as long as they are healthy that’s all we can ask for” now that’s gone. Your child’s heart is not what it’s suppose to be and not only that the doctors cannot tell you the extent to which is going to effect your child. All they can say is we are sorry and the baby will need surgery at some point before they are one year’s old.

They show you what a normal heart is suppose to look like and what your child’s will look like.

• 

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This is a complete shock to system but it is just the beginning because now you are a parent. If you were like me you’re a first time parent as well, in complete terror of what’s ahead. Will you get to take your baby home? How long will in be in the hospital? How can you keep working? We all think of these questions.

We were able to bring home our daughter after 4 days in the NICU. At 5 weeks old she would need to go to the hospital for some advanced imaging of her heart to she when she would need surgery. We went to this appointment everything went fine and she was brought to the recovery room. She did well for awhile so they were going to send her home. During time the time they were preparing to send her home she stopped breathing. We called for help and the nurses called a code blue on her. There were so many people that came into the room. They also had to have her imaging looked at right away.

We were to told that our little girl would need surgery right away.

And so it hit me the reality or being a heart parent. It was just the beginning.

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My daughter 5 weeks old after having a BT shunt placed.

This is when everything changes.

Success.

Do you ever have moments where you sit and think… you could’ve and should’ve graduated already, have married someone by now, bought a home and started a family? That was me.

I remember days where I’d be scrolling through my Facebook or Instagram feed, and I’d feel this pang of envy (aka FOMO) every time I saw a friend or family member’s big announcement. I’d always think to myself, “I should’ve been engaged by now too, right?” or “shouldn’t I have already moved out two years ago?” Of course these aren’t exactly positive thoughts but as a 20-something year old, they came and went rather frequently (especially at family gatherings or events).

This idea of what success is and isn’t is and was no stranger to me. I am the oldest daughter, the oldest grandchild, the “second” mom to everyone younger than me – so it wasn’t hard to comprehend what others wanted for me. Of course, their intentions were good – “I just want the best for you.” “I want you to be successful, that’s all.” And I get that. But, no one should feel like they are bound to someone else’s definition of success.

Forbes published an article in 2016, titled “My Biggest Regret in Life: Going to College.” It highlighted the author’s POV on why you just might regret continuing higher-ed. Many, in fact, do believe that, “College isn’t a shortcut to success. In fact, it may be a roadblock to your success.” And respectively, I understand that too. Everyone’s experiences are different. Someone could’ve had a crappy experience during their first semester while another believes that it’s just a waste of time. In the last few years, the perception behind not going to college is changing – and many are searching for creative ways to obtain real-world experiences without having to spend huge weeps of money for a piece of paper or to “read a book.”

In contrast, Abound: Finish College, a college guidance system for degree-seeking adults, wrote a blog post breaking down the advantages of earning your degree: 1) a changing job market 2) an ill-prepared labor force 3) the impact of a college degree for your family, friends, children and community.

In fact, experts expect that by the year 2020, two out of every three jobs will require a bachelor’s degree.

These are all valid reasons and perspectives – but again, it’s what works for other people. It’s how others define success but it’s not how you define it. So hopefully during this pandemic, you’re able to slow down and truly think about how others have influenced or pressured you into thinking the way they do, how your experiences contribute to who you are today, and what true success looks like [for you] in the next 3-5 years. Maybe even 10 years.

Cheers,

M

2: The effects El Nino has on coral bleaching

Coral reefs are dying. In the last four decades the amount of bleaching rose from 8% in the 1980s to 31% in 2016.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bx-b5yOg1_6/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

El Nino

Since 1980, 58% of bleaching were recorded during strong periods of El Nino.  It was noted that in February of 2019, El Nino is officially back. El Nino is a natural phenomenon that typically peaks between October and March and happens every two to seven years. They have the ability to cause rising sea surface temperatures in the Pacific Ocean. As the climate warms (from El Nino), so does the risk of coral bleaching. There’s evidence that proves El Ninos are becoming more frequent and more intense. This is already the sixth El Nino we’ve had in the 21^st century.

https://grist.org/article/its-official-el-nino-is-back-now-what/

Bleaching

Even though coral reefs only cover 0.1% of the ocean floor, they support roughly 25% of the biodiversity of fish. However, coral reefs are very vulnerable to climate change. High sea temperatures is the biggest cause so far. Bleaching happens when stressed corals remove the tiny living algae in their tissues called zooxanthellae which leaves behind a white skeleton. That algae is important though—it’s how corals eat and without it they starve. It is possible for corals to recover from bleaching, but persistent bleaching can ultimately kill the entire reef.

Bleaching events have become such a modern phenomenon that it’s being reported that such events are happening every six or so years, which if you’re wondering, is not enough time for corals to recover.

The most recent bleaching event was from 2015 to 2016 and was the worst on record affecting 75% of the reefs that were examined during a study. Research suggests that Australia and the Middle East have seen the biggest increase in coral bleaching, but the reason for this still isn’t clear.

https://www.carbonbrief.org/severe-coral-bleaching-now-five-times-more-frequent-than-40-years-ago

Future

Even trying to limit temperatures to stay below 1.5C would be essential to give coral reefs a fighting chance. On the contrary, an increase of 2C would be disastrous for the world’s coral. The biggest consequence of El Nino is the effect it has on global temperatures. Most notably carbon dioxide which accelerates global warming.

Final Thoughts

If events like El Nino existed less and the effects weren’t so disastrous, coral reefs would have no issue thriving. Rising sea temperatures and the increase in carbon dioxide is killing coral reefs. These events happen so often they can’t regenerate in time.

It’s 2019: Does the US Finally understand the Power of K-Pop?

It was a casual Sunday morning in my small Minneapolis apartment, and I was desperately looking for something to watch. I opened my Youtube to watch literally anything interesting, and settled on the skits from SNL the night before. Little did I know I was in for a pleasant surprise, because the night before the K-Pop juggernauts BTS took to the stage as the musical act.

I will be the first to admit that I knew what K-Pop was and who BTS was, but was never remotely interested in finding out what they were about. I can admit now that it was just a personal bias because I knew a lot of BTS fanatics in real life, and I didn’t want to feed into the hype, but their two perfect SNL performances had me eating my words. I felt like I was let in on the world’s biggest secret. After watching both performances more times than I’d like to admit, I said aloud, “Ah, I get it now.”

The performance that had my jaw on the floor

I know I’m not the only person who felt standoffish toward K-Pop, and a lot of it just has to do with living in a western state of mind. I remember reading an article called “Can We Stop Pretending K-Pop is Popular?” completely disregarding K-Pop as an international phenomenon, pointing out how quickly the charts drop for these artists. Written in June of 2018, this article already sounds bitter and outdated.

https://www.digitalmusicnews.com/2018/06/21/stop-pretending-k-pop-popular/

BTS was the first K-Pop artist to be featured as a musical guest, debuting their new song “Boy With Luv” which features Halsey, an up and coming heavy hitter in the music industry. This goes along with their music video debut, which broke Youtube records by receiving the most views on a video in 24 hours, and also the fastest video to get 100 million views.

The Boys of BTS are not the only K-Pop stars breaking into the United States. The previous record for most Youtube views in 24 hours was held by BLACKPINK, an all girl K-Pop group that was recently featured in the 2019 Coachella line-up.

BLACKPINK performing Coachella

With all the attention on K-Pop groups, and an overall acceptance of the K-Pop genre into the US mainstream, the end is not in sight. BTS won two Billboard Awards, one for “Top Duo/Group” (a first for the group), and another for “Top Social Artist” for the 3rd year in a row. They shared the Social Artist category alongside two more well known K-Pop band nominees, EXO and GOT7.

https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/awards/8509655/billboard-music-awards-2019-winners-list

As someone who just entered the K-Pop atmosphere, I feel like I have been let out of a small box, and I can now finally breathe. I’m excited to give these young talented artists a chance, simply because Pop music doesn’t always fit into a certain mold, and I hope others realize this.

The other day my boyfriend texted me to say he heard “Boy With Luv” by BTS on the radio, and I couldn’t help but smile.

What to watch…

 

Rotten Tomatoes & IMDb are resources for movie and show ratings as well as filming details (actors, directors etc.). Both have web sites, mobile apps, twitter, and Facebook feeds. Both rate movies and shows from TV, Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime. So which site is the best? Which app should you download?

How often do they update?

Rotten Tomatoes:

• website: multiple times per day
• Twitter: often multiple times per hour
• Facebook: about hourly
• YouTube: a few times per week

IMDB:

• website: multiple times per day
• Twitter: nearly hourly
• Facebook: every few hours
• Instagram: daily

Where does their information come from?

Rotten Tomatoes collect movie and show facts such as actors, directors… The details they post come from top 100 daily/weekly US newspapers, top 100 magazine, top 10 entertainment-based publications, national TV & radio networks, as well as “reliable” online publications. They welcome edit requests if site visitors notice a discrepancy or missing information (this is a link to an electronic Fandango customer service form).  Rotten Tomatoes became apart of Fandango in 2016.

For their critic based ratings, Rotten Tomatoes uses their own creation for ratings called the Tomatometer. The Urban Dictionary considers the Tomatometer a reliable, unbiased rating system. Their audience rating is the percentage of all Flixster.com and RottenTomatoes.com users who have rated the movie or TV Show positively.

IMDb, Internet Movie Database, relies on various sources for information; studios and filmmakers, the bulk of is submitted by people in the industry, members, and site visitors. They use member input for a number of popularity lists. IMDb is an Amazon.com Company. There is a derivative site called IMDbPro which claims to be “The leading information resource for the entertainment industry” and requires a subscription at a cost of $19.99 per month.

IMDb shows Metacritic ratings. Metacritic calculates its’ scores based on a minimum of 4 critics’ reviews. The Urban Dictionary definition of Metacritic is less than favorable.

My Opinion

My father-in-law and I had a lengthy discussion about how use the two sites. We seem to have the same method:

• RottenTomatoes
  • what in theaters is worth watching
  • knowing which movies are coming soon to DVD
• IMDb
  • historical movie details
  • actor & director filmography

Well I am not sure if Urban Dictionary the voice of reason or if I like the idea of either site being controlled by a major company but… The IMDb site was less user friendly and I preferred my searches on RottenTomatoes.

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