Nonsensical Gibberish - Rantings of a Self-Professed Political Science Geek

Filtering Out the Best Ways to Improve Your Home Office

2017-08-18Nancy Mitchell

Working for the business world can be an enjoyable, yet occasionally stressful experience. Sometimes it seems as though you will just be more productive working from home rather than out of the office. This is why it is great to have a home office! However, it is important to make sure that your office is set up in the style that will benefit you the most. There are a few key changes that you can make to your office to ensure that you will produce the best work possible out of it!

Add an Aquarium

Placing an aquarium in your office might just be the best change that you could make! Having fish and other water creatures in an aquarium will give you entertainment when you stop for a quick break. You can watch them swim back and forth and interact with each other. As well, they will bring you a sense of calmness, which may be exactly what you were needing. If you are unsure about the equipment that is required, you could try reading some reviews online.

Incorporate Music

Some people say that they cannot work with music on. This may be because they have tried listen to the wrong types of music while working. If you need to concentrate hard, try putting on quiet, relaxing tunes. If you are simply performing a monotonous task, you may need some more upbeat music. This will keep you awake and will help you maintain your focus until you complete the task. Try making separate playlists for your various different moods, so you will save time deciding what music you want to hear.

Have Snacks Nearby

We all know that we will not produce the best quality work when we are hungry. We will get frustrated and grumpy and not want to continue with the task at hand. This is why it is a good idea to keep something to munch on at your desk. This way, you can have something close by whenever you want to eat a bit. Healthy snacks are the best choice, so that you will be getting some nutrients while you work! A bowl of carrots or an apple on are good examples of healthy snacks that will get you through the day.

Conclusion

Going into your office to do work does not have to be a chore whether it’s in a building or if you work from home! You have the ability to make your office into a place where you genuinely want to come into and work. By adding an aquarium, incorporating music, and keeping snacks nearby, you will be able to improve the functionality of your office. Of course, these tips are just general ideas, and they may not work for everybody. Try to think about what you personally are looking for in a home office, and you can start the awesome job of creating your ideal workspace.

US Dental Health Crisis Demands Universal Coverage

2017-07-07Nancy Mitchell

Despite the rising cost of care and deteriorating conditions across the country, dental care has been all but forgotten in the partisan infighting about the Affordable Care Act over the last eight years. The CDC, in their summary of dental health across the United States, reports that approximately 15 percent of all children across the country have untreated cavities. Furthermore, a significant racial and income disparity in dental health serves as a further indicator that the current dental healthcare system is broken. Our political leaders must rally around universal dental coverage and improve access to dental care and they must do so immediately.

Americans have become significantly more adept at dental home care over the previous generations. Better market tools for plaque removal, as well as improved brushing habits and water fluoridation, have contributed to a decrease in cavities in the general population for several decades. Hispanic and black children are significantly more likely to have untreated dental caries. Additionally, for those who can afford access to dental care, improvements in technology have made the process significantly less painful while improving results. However, as insurance premiums and the costs of dental procedures rise, more and more Americans find themselves unable to afford regular dental care, and thus are faced with serious implications for their health, career and children as they struggle with deteriorating dental health and hygiene.

According to a report published by Delta Dental, for every American who lacks access to health insurance, nearly three Americans lack access to basic dental insurance. Dental coverage also appears to be a determining factor both in regularity of dental health checkups and in the quality of care they receive. Over 40 percent of those who lack dental coverage have not visited the dentist in the last year, compared to roughly 21 percent of those who are covered. The most damaging impact has been on children, who are the only group of people in the United States to see their cavity rate increase over the last decade. Furthermore, lack of regular dental screening can lead to later detection of oral cancers, leading to significantly increased health care costs associated with the treatment of late-stage cancer. Oral and facial pain, left untreated, cause thousands of Americans to miss work over the course of a year, resulting in significantly decreased productivity.

The driving factor leading to fewer Americans receiving is rising premiums and costs. While premiums for dental care are rising more slowly than other health insurance costs, these fees can have a deeply destabilizing impact on low-income families already facing rising rents and stagnant wages. The rising costs also effect small businesses, struggling to afford their insurance premiums, who cannot continue to shoulder the burden of increased costs. Many dental procedures are complex and expensive. Individuals and families struggling to make ends meet will often forego root canals and fillings, choosing to endure the significant pain of the underlying caries or opting for cruder treatment methods like extractions. The strain of the significant pain and the degradation of dental health over time cause significant personal and economic troubles, and lead to lost production and increased stress for the individual and the person around them.

A simple solution to this problem exists. Providing national dental insurance, either through a single-payer system or nonprofit public dental options, has been shown to significantly reduce dental costs while improving the quality of dental health across the population. Many other countries, including nearly every developed country, provide some form of universal access to dental care. These countries almost always see significant improvements in their population’s dental health while spending less per capita than the Unites States. In fact, the United States spends far and way the most per citizen on dental care for no demonstrable gain.

Our politicians, by ignoring this crisis and bickering across party lines, have failed the United States. Health care, which includes dental care, is necessary for a person to live a successful and fulfilled right, and we have seen that the current system is failing our country. The longer we continue down this failed road, the harder it will be to enact meaningful reform and change our dental care system for the better. The time is long past for our government to put aside the interests of profiteering dental insurance companies and provide universal dental coverage.

Five New Must-Have Tech Gadgets for Your Car

2017-03-13Nancy Mitchell

During an average lifetime, you’ll purchase approximately seven cars, and you’ll end up spending a lot of time in each. A new Harvard Health Watch study has revealed that we typically spend around 101 minutes per day in our vehicle. This adds up to an astounding 4.3 years! It only makes sense that we’d want to ensure the environment in which we spend an entire college career’s worth of time is an enjoyable one.

Technology is expanding at an exponential rate, and there are now more cool accessories than ever before to take advantage of. The trouble is, we often simply don’t know they’re available. There are five new must-have tech gadgets you’ll want to be aware of to maximize the quality of your ride to its current modern capacity.

1. LED Light Bars

If you spend a lot of your driving time in the evening hours, you’ll want to make sure you check out LED light bars. These products add a level of flair and can completely transform the aesthetic appeal of the vehicle. Best of all, since they make you easier for other drivers on the road to detect, you can reduce your chances of accidents.

You’ll enjoy the added illumination as it can prove beneficial in a variety of ways, and there are many colors from which to choose, allowing you to truly personalize your vehicle. Light Bar Liaison offers helpful reviews and information that can help you make the best decision about which led light bars on the market will best meet your specific needs.

2. Smartphone Remote Start

When the cold winter months set in, mustering up the will to get up and go to work can be hard to do. After all, you have to face the bitter cold to start your car and get it warmed up. This means an extra trip in and out of the house. With smartphone remote start, you can not only take care of this problem no matter what you drive but also take advantage of a number of other cool features all from your phone including:

Parking meter reminder
Programmed schedule minder based on your driving patterns
Alerts for parents of teens on the road as well as the ability to lock down the car if they’re being punished.

As you can see, with the power of your phone and the Internet, you can take remote start technology to a whole new level of use. Products like Viper SmartStart System can be easily installed and utilized in a variety of useful ways.

3. Dashboard Camera

We are truly living in the digital era, and we are able to capture much of our daily lives in pictures and videos. When you install a dashboard camera, you’ll be investing in a powerful tool that can prove helpful in the event you’re ever involved in an accident, not to mention the ability to capture unexpected events that could always occur when we get out on the road. Other potential benefits you can take advantage of when you utilize this technology include:

Provision of real-time footage for worried parents
Ability to record awesome road trips
Various additional features and functions
Prevention of parking accidents

4. Car Data Reader

With knowledge comes an increased ability to face problems strategically. When you’re able to accurately keep track of intricate data related to your driving habits, you can make better decisions when it comes to the upkeep and maintenance of your car. It seems like there’s an app for just about anything these days, and this holds true when it comes to gathering accurate car data. Just some of the statistics these apps can provide you to help you make better decisions include:

Average miles per gallon
Average speed
Miles before next oil change
City versus highway performance comparisons

5. Air Ionizer

Getting in your car can literally be a breath of fresh air when you invest in products like Newsky car air ionizer. These devices go to work producing active oxygen molecules. When anions release negative electric charges, it causes these oxygen molecules to become even more active, allowing those in the vehicle the ability to absorb 20 percent more oxygen. This allows a number of benefits including:

Improved blood health
Better quality of sleep
Increased cognitive capabilities
Increased energy levels

Will Gun Control Take Firearms Off Of The Street As Well As Your Gun Safe?

2017-02-25Nancy Mitchell

It’s estimated that there are more than 256 million guns owned by Americans in the United States. A new survey has shown that between 300,000-600,000 of the guns owned are stolen each year. This is a ridiculously alarming statistic, especially with all of the crime that is circulating around these guns every year. It’s hard to say whether or not it does work, but there are valid points on each end to consider.

Why It Does Work

As with the certain aspects as to why gun control doesn’t work, there have been implemented laws that prove it does work to a certain extent.

Child Access Prevention Laws

These laws are by far my favorite. This law was put into action to ensure that firearms are put into safe storage out of the reach of children. Gun owners who leave their firearms in the open where children can reach them are penalized. There have also been additional laws that allow for felony prosecution of offenders with higher reductions in unintentional deaths in children. The best way to keep guns out of the reach of children is to lock them up in a gun storage cabinet or safe. These come are usually locked mechanically or electronically.

Background Check For Guns

This is kind of a hit or miss for me. Sure, it seems like a great idea, but it doesn’t really help for stolen guns. Although, if the purchaser is going about it the legal way, they must go through a background check. If any red flags come up, the gun ownership is declined. These checks also include domestic violence restraining orders, which can crucial during a messy break-up or divorce.

Why It Doesn’t work

Gun control laws have become more strict over the year with all of the mass shootings that have happened such as Sandy Hook & Pulse Night Club. Unfortunately, lawmakers have taken the guns out of the hands of the wrong people. It’s understandable that this can be an extremely sensitive subject to a lot of folks, but it’s something that everyone have very strong political opinions about.

Gun Bans Worsened Homicide Rates

Studies have shown that gun control bans are actually quite counterproductive. In the back of the politicians minds, they were thinking that if more guns equalled more death, than less guns equalled less death. Unfortunately, this proved wrong when it came to the Washington, D.C. area. They have one of the most strict laws on guns in the country and are ironically one of the most dangerous places to live.

It’s also been shown that a majority of mass shooting happen in gun-free zones. Why? Here’s the theory. Those who want to kill are going to pick a location where there is less likely to be armed individuals to stop them.

Defense Outranks Criminal Use

In 2013, there were between 500,000-3 million gun uses for defense rather than murder, which was only 11,208 and 414,562 for nonfatal in Washington D.C. Lawmakers have speculated that everybody who carries a gun other than a cop is a criminal and that their guns are going to be use for murderous activities. Almost 530,000 gun uses were used for crime. Imagine how many more there would be if those concealed carry laws were banned as well.

Buyback Program May Be Flawed

Sure, it seems like a great idea, but think about this. There are thousands, if not millions, of non-working guns circulating. It would be very easy for someone to get their hands on a non-working gun and sell it to buy a working gun instead. Also, the buyback program can help a criminal dispose of evidence. It makes it very easy to sell a gun used in a murder.

Conclusion

Gun control laws aren’t always agreed upon. A lot of people think, “Guns don’t kill people, people kill people”, which is true. On the other hand, if the guns weren’t on the street, people wouldn’t be using them to kill others. It’s our hope that someday, guns won’t be an issue anymore and mass murders will be a thing of the past.

How Political Science Students Can Maximize Success

2017-02-04Nancy Mitchell

There are a variety of exciting careers in the field of political science. Whether you dream to help change the world by taking direct part in changing the laws of the land as a legislative assistant or would like to work directly with hopeful candidates as a political consultant, you first must earn your qualifications by attending college and getting a degree in political science.

You have four years to build up a grade point average that will impress future employers and increase your chances of entering into a career you’ll love for many years to come. However, it can be difficult to see that big picture when you’re still in school. There are three tips you should follow to maximize your success as a political science student and increase future possibilities.

Ensure Proper Sleep

Sleep is a commodity that is often in short supply for the college student. In fact, according to the University of Georgia, the average college student gets around six hours of sleep nightly, and this puts them at a two hour deficit every night considering eight hours of restful sleep is ideal. Just a few ways sleep deprivation impacts your academic ventures include:

Decreased ability to focus and pay attention to detail
Decreased ability for memory to work optimally
Increased risk for burnout

Even if you do get to bed at the right time to fulfill your eight hours for the night, it’s likely you have a lot on your mind to keep you awake and alert. A great way to counter this is to consider the purchase of a mattress topper. Not only can they increase your overall comfort level, but some products even feature exciting options such as cooling capabilities that can encourage sleep to come to you more efficiently. Before you make a purchase, be sure to get plenty of comparisons to best ensure you make the right choice.

Don’t Neglect Your Own Schedule

All work and no play may make Jack and dull boy, but it can cause much more serious consequences for college students. With multiple classes you must attend each day, homework, tests, jobs, and so much more, it’s easy to feel as though there simply isn’t enough time in the day to get everything done, let alone finding time to do what you enjoy. However, failure to make time could cause you to lose motivation to learn.

A great way to make the time you need for yourself is to consider using tools such as Google calendar. Here, you can strategically map out your schedule far in advance. It’s a good idea to visit the calendar before the start of a busy week and dedicate time to be spent doing whatever it is you do to relax and temporarily forget about your many responsibilities.

One Chance to Get It Right

It’s estimated by the US Department of Education that the majority of college students are under age 25, and this is a time when young adults are just venturing out into the real world for themselves. This requires lots of adaptation, and it takes time to develop all of the skill necessary to get all your ducks in a row.

Despite this fact, you only have one chance to get it right when it comes to undergraduate studies, and the time you’re investing now can have a huge impact on your future, whether that be positive or negative. To best ensure you get to enjoy the former, consider the implementation of these helpful tips to maximize your success.

Advantages of Working From Home

2016-09-23Nancy Mitchell

Once a woman becomes a mother, major life changes will have to occur. What once was a career woman should now reconsider her duties since she also has to be a responsible and wonderful loving mother. For most cases these days, being a mother and a career woman is a much more possible scenario. It may not be an easy feat, but it is possible because one could simply hire a nanny to look after the kid, or have relatives who already chose to be stay-at-home moms, to take care of the kid for them.

Mothers choose to still work despite already having a child not just because of the thirst for a proper career but also because there are bills to pay and there is the child’s future to save for. While this is the father’s responsibility, the mother would have to help especially when the earning is not enough. However, it will never be denied that there is a huge difference in the emotional progress and stability of the child when it is his or her mother that personally takes good care of them. So, how can a mother earn even when she stays at home?

There are a lot of options for stay at home moms nowadays. First, there is the online work. Mothers can be tutors, writers, transcribers, virtual assistants, among other possible online jobs. The pay is enough and you still get to spend your time with your baby. You don’t even have to mind how you look hence your time is not wasted and is instead invested on the time you have with your son or daughter.

Staying at home is also an opportunity to be hands on not just with your child, but also with the conditions of the house. Stay at home moms can foresee any problems that may occur, like busted light bulbs, unpaid bills, and even plumbing problems.

Being a mother was never said to be an easy task and giving up your career is one testimony of that. Some women will not be able to let go of their careers so easily especially since you worked hard to achieve the career path you have started to take on. But being a mother does not mean that all is lost in the area of career progress. You can always go back when the time is right and when your kid has grown enough to be left behind or to go to school.

Taking the Path Of Politics

2015-11-19Nancy Mitchell

When I hear about politics, I began to think of my brother who has always been interested in this field. He is now in his third year as a Political Science major student in a university in Arizona. Time flies so fast. Three years ago, I was pushing him to take up engineering but he was in for a different calling. Part of him wanted to save the world through understanding deeper the art of politics. He wanted to understand the causes of society’s problems and its possible solutions and the ideas of system that can help shape the future. It is education he thinks that will serve as a framework for making a change in society. He knew from the start what he wanted to do in his life.

We grew up to have different interests and perspectives about random matters. On summer breaks, while he spent his days in a public library, I spent my time in the football field with friends. He liked watching CNN news every morning though I would love to switch the television to the sports channel. We often debated about small trivial matters when we were young and usually ending up in nonsense fights. And as the older one, I insisted on things he ought to do.

Maturity allowed us to put ourselves into each other’s shoe and to just be there for each other. Although politics is something that I don’t take interest in, I heartily support my brother’s choice to lead a career in political science. I have seen him gradually preparing for this journey for years. In high school, he took interest in reading books about the life stories of Mandela and Gandhi. In fact, he started making a difference in society even as a teenager. He was actively involved in volunteer programs which had carried out help when our state is faced with issues on natural disasters. Flooding is a natural occurrence in our city. We watched how streets became impassable due to the flood. The experience had left homes and business establishments in terrible conditions. Some families needed to be kept in safer places. I came along with my brother in volunteering for the relief operations. It was a life-changing experience.

I admit I call myself a non-political person. I had formed misconceptions in my mind about the idea of political science. I thought I had to save my brother from getting into a frustrating job of making policies, doing service works and saving the world. But I came to accept the fact that politics is his life. The loaf of bread I eat everyday, the cost of fuel or my safety in the streets are relative to politics. This is the very mechanisms of life that we simply cannot detach ourselves with. I am glad that my brother knew the exact path that he wanted to take on. He took the course of Political Science not because he saw a glittering career ahead of him but because he is interested in making a real change in our world.

Social Media and its Relation to Political Science

2015-07-22Nancy Mitchell

When the Internet first came to be, no one knew exactly how it would affect the lives of everyone living on the planet. Decades later, almost everyone uses the Internet. Whether it be for the pursuit of knowledge, happiness, riches, and even political ambitions.

In the old days, people who want to run for public office had to go on the streets and hold rallies in order for the masses to listen to what they had to say. Now it’s all about Facebook and Twitter marketing and recording political speeches and meetings and uploading them in Youtube. Others use Foursquare as a means of announcing to the online world where the campaign rally is going to be. There’s even a rising trend of politicians hiring social media managers for their Facebook and Twitter pages!

Have you ever wondered why people get all crazy whenever they hear social networking sites? Are you surprised why a Youtube video, despite having a boring and mundane presentation, is actually gathering thousands of subscribers and viewers? Are you shocked why businesses are now dependent on Twitter?

Social media is the great melting pot of business and personal communication. Whether we like it or not, people are, and will always be, attracted to social media because of its unlimited and creative potential. Think of the thousands of blogs being created day by day, the millions of members Facebook, Twitter and MySpace receive, and the hundreds of videos being uploaded to Youtube by just one single member! You just don’t create relationships and bonds with social media; you earn money as well.

Think of those games that you see and play in Facebook; Zynga, for example, has made millions ever since they started creating games in Facebook. Twitter is the secret weapon of internet marketers, channeling hundreds of promotions with a few posts on the social media site. Because of all these positive effects on both the business and personal aspects of our everyday lives, social media is now described as “the next big thing since the Internet.”

If games can be promoted with social media, then I’m pretty sure a political candidate can be marketed without problems. My friend and I finally agreed that when the time comes, there will be a new subject for political science students to talk and research about.

Why Use Technology in Political Science?

2015-06-22Nancy Mitchell

Image Credit: forbes.com

Why use technology in advocating Political Science?

At this point in time, where technology is in its prime and is continually expanding and innovating, is this even a valid point to ask?

Today, technology is no longer a luxury. It is as necessary and inevitable part of life.

If you want to succeed in life, you have to be equipped with the right knowledge and skills that will let you maneuver the world of technology. If you fail to enhance these skills, you will be left behind by other people.

For advocates of Political Science, may they be teachers, students or professionals of the field, technology is an important part of the system.

conversation is an important part of Political Science. The sharing of ideas, development, and the provisions of arguments, are very vital to this field. As such, a large part of today’s dialogues are found in the web. People are talking to each other in forums, chats, and are expressing opinion and stands through blogs. Hence, being tech savvy is important in exploring all sides of your topic.

Collaboration is made easier now because of the internet. You can team up with people who have the same ideals as yours, and you don’t even have to meet. You can easily use the communication devices that the internet has to offer. There are Enterprise hosted PBX solutions that are preferred by people these days, because they are free and are an easier means of communication than the now almost outdated telephone service systems. Using this means of communication, you can team up with a person or a group of people, and you all can work in harmony and with organization, because your communication will be easier and smoother.

Image Credit: dailymail.co.uk

Being tech savvy is an important skill that will give you an edge against other people. As such, this will also boost your self-esteem. When you have confidence in yourself, you can tackle any topic with ease because you know you researched and worked hard to learn the things you know.

The internet will also open your eyes to the fact that sometimes, failures are necessary to gain valuable knowledge. You can learn this from the stories of other people. If you read through their experience, you can either learn from their failure, or, see that you are not the first to make such mistakes and that there is always the rainbow after the rain.

This of course does not mean that you can forget about being cautious. Of course, while mistakes are part of life, it does not give you the ticket to not do your best and just commit mistakes every time.

What You Didn’t Know About Political Science Theories

2015-05-24Nancy Mitchell

Image credit: keepcalm-o-matic.co.uk

There are a number of theories that have been advanced by philosophers in history. While some of these philosophers changed the way politics is studied, other didn’t have much impact on the subject. The fact is that some of the theories are anchored on common law, whereas others are inclined towards other facets of politics. Some of the most common theories used in the study of politics are; Marxist theory, public choice theory, rationality theorem, and safety valve theory. The others that fall in the same range are; Michigan model, selectorate theorem, Taftian theory, and power resource theory.

It is elemental to note that the theories vary from the angle on the political subject that they tackle. For instance, what institutional theory deals with, relatively varies with what theories of political behavior and power resource theory tries to explain. It is based on this fact that you need to understand at least the basics of each theory to be able to analyze a political situation from an informed perspective. However, it goes without saying that no matter the political angle you look at a specific case, there will be varying levels of interdependence between the mentioned theories.

The different political science theories can also be found in other areas of study including the social sciences. In other words, this means that some of the theories are multidisciplinary while others are not. The philosophers who are credited for solidifying some of these theories differed in their attribution to matters that concern governance. However, there is always a consensus on other precepts that are directly related to power. These philosophers can be grouped into different categories, and these include; the ancient or medieval philosophers, the modern philosophers, those born in the 19^th century and those born in 18^th century. Note that some of the political science theories were developed over time, so the subject matter tends to change over the period a theory was developed.

There are a good number of political science philosophers who had a great impact on how politics is perceived. What this means is that their thoughts have stood the test of time, and dynamics of governance has changed based on what they stated. The popular names that have influenced this landscape include; Machiavelli, Plato, and Aristotle. The others whose influence is notable include; John Locke, Thomas Hobbes, Montesquieu, and David Hume. The two philosophers that cannot be left out on this list are Mohammad Ibn-al Wahab, and Al-Mawardi, their theories were unique, and happened to touch the very core elements of governance.

In all theories, there is an emphasis put on analysis of the core elements that control politics. The power to rule, the power to control, and the desire for mutual benefit as man is a social animal by nature. As a matter of fact, all these theories are only meant to discover power, and what effect it has on humans.