Trading Issues In Trump’s America

President Trump is a great businessman. How could he build such an empire if he knew nothing about the trade, right? However, his new position as the U.S. president is not a business gamble. For four years, his decision will shape the nation and everyone else living in it. Soon after assuming office, he already made quite a few daring moves involving travel bans and more travel bans in his serious stance against terrorists and illegal immigrants. Well, it does not come as a surprise since he has been very vocal about his position on it for years now.

But other aspects of nation building are also affected by his unorthodox policies. While he gives utmost priority to defense, immigration and safety and security of everyone, he gives less importance to other equally important issues like education, trade, the arts, and many others. As a businessman himself, he should be a genius already when it comes to business policies that can help boost the country’s economy. However, it seems like his business acumen isn’t manifesting yet in his unprecedented leadership.

The United States broke with other large industrial nations over trade on Saturday as the Trump administration rejected concerns among allies about spreading protectionism and made clear that it would seek new approaches to managing global commerce.

At a meeting of finance ministers and central bankers from the Group of 20 industrialized and emerging nations and the European Union, Steven Mnuchin, attending his first major international gathering as Treasury secretary, signaled that American policy would follow the campaign promises made by President Trump to put “America first” and review existing trade agreements to seek better deals for the United States.

As a result, the ministers’ joint statement, normally a study in blandness, became an unlikely focus of controversy here. The representatives could agree only on a tortured compromise stating, in effect, that trade is a good thing. Adjectives like “open” were dropped, and the ministers omitted language used in previous communiqués that condemned protectionism, repudiating decades of free trade doctrine.

(Via: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/18/business/group-of-20-summit-us-trade.html?_r=0)

No matter how powerful the U.S. may be, it still needs to maintain positive business and political relations with other countries or risk suffering from big unforeseen losses. Take for instance dealing business with the mammoth that is China.

For years, American politicians and business leaders have demanded China approach its economic policy in a manner more similar to the United States. They have pushed the nominally communist country to cut support to its state-run enterprises, drop barriers against foreign goods and level the playing field between Chinese companies and their foreign competitors.

But as President Trump meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Mar-a-Lago this week, he may take a markedly different approach: threatening that the United States will soon act more like China.

Trump's campaign tapped into deep skepticism about free trade, and as president he's promising to govern with an "America first" economic nationalism that includes using government resources to help domestic industry and leveraging trade policy to help insulate American businesses from foreign competition. It's an approach that sets Trump apart from traditional Republican allies who have championed free markets and looks surprisingly similar to the Chinese tactics Americans have criticized in the past.

“Mr. Trump seems to want to move the U.S. toward China’s approach, rather than move China toward the U.S. approach of open trade and globalization,” says Eswar Prasad, a professor of trade at Cornell University. That represents a shift in strategy from the past, when U.S. leaders aggressively proselytized the benefit of open markets, even if they didn't always wholly achieve them at home.

“He seems to want the U.S. to be more like China than China to be more like the U.S. And I’m not sure that’s the best path for the U.S. to go down,” Prasad says.

(Via: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2017/04/06/why-trump-wants-the-u-s-to-act-more-like-china/?utm_term=.78607fe0167e)

Doubts shadow many of the policies of the Trump administration including that of free trade. Even the Wall Street feels the tension after the recent Syria bombing and the U.S. economy that still appears to be in a slump. Trump practically won by gaining the sentiments of Pro-Americans especially the ones living in rural areas with a mantra to put Americans first in everything the government does including employment and business opportunities. But regardless of our personal opinions, the best thing we can do right now is to support the policies during this Trump era to help him realize his promise of making America great again.

Trading Issues In Trump’s America is available on The Degrafa Blog

source https://www.degrafa.com/trading-issues-in-trumps-america/

Keep Your Health In Check While Traveling

To travel is to feed your senses and make lasting memories to last a lifetime. Not everyone is comfortable in leaving their homes and going somewhere new for a certain period of time. We all thrive in the safety and comfort offered by our homes but it is hard to pass up on the adventure of a lifetime. Traveling is so much easier now with cheaper airline flights and the convenience offered by the World Wide Web. You can easily book an Airbnb in any part of the world without breaking the bank. You can also come up with your travel itinerary months ahead before your big trip since you can find all the details you need on the web.

With the advent of smartphones, all these perks are now in the palm of your hand. You can do so many things all at once with no sweat at all, wherever you may be. As you feed your wanderlust, it is unavoidable to fall ill during your travels. It may be just a common cold or flu or a bout of diarrhea from all the street and exotic foods you have consumed the day before but getting sick is inevitable. So, how can you make sure you remain in great shape as you wander around?

Nothing can ruin a good traveling experience than catching the flu or getting a cold. Although bringing a lot of prescription meds can sometimes do the trick, it's better to stay healthy while you're on the go to avoid so much intake of medicine.

Here are some handy tips to keep healthy while on travel:

Always bring a sanitizer. Do not just lug that pack of sanitizer in your bag, use it regularly! 

Don't forget to eat breakfast. You might be excited to explore your new surroundings as soon as you wake up, but don't forget to eat your breakfast first before going out! 

Choose glasses over contact lenses. Contact lenses may be handier, but you are more prone to eye dry-outs if you wear them during travel. 

Wear skin-protecting lotions. Don't forget to pack your sunblock when going to the beach, and if you're on the way to a tropical country, make sure to bring good insect repellent. 

Try to get as much sleep as you can. Traveling can be really tiring, and treating your body to a good night's sleep will help you replenish the energy you spent during the day.

(Via: http://www.travelerstoday.com/articles/42342/20170309/stay-healthy-during-travel.htm)

A little common sense can go a long way when traveling. While vacations and international travels will likely be always full of surprises, a little precaution will make sure you enjoy every single day of your trip and not leave you sick in bed and miss out on a lot of things.

MANY people book their flights, pack their bags, and head out without having a health check. To enjoy a healthy, worry-free trip, it is highly recommended to make an appointment with your doctor for a preventive health check around six to eight weeks before your trip.

Most of us prepare for the big trip weeks to months ahead. Only a very few go on a trip in such short notice. Hence, you still have time to plan and prepare every aspect of your travel.

1 It’s important that you discuss your personal travel plans with your doctor to ensure you have the correct medications and/or vaccinations for your trip.

2 Don’t settle for the basic diagnostic tests like a one-time CBC, X-ray, or ECG check without seeing your doctor. 

3 For instance, persons with diabetes are generally recommended to undergo a glycosylated hemoglobin (Hba1c) test.  This helps your doctor gauge how controlled your sugars are.

4 For people taking maintenance medications, liver and kidney function tests are also recommended.

5 If your trip involves a lot of walking, or other possibly strenuous activities (e.g. mountain-climbing), securing a cardio-pulmonary and fitness evaluation is important.  

6 Long periods of immobility during long periods of travel can lead to a condition known as deep vein thrombosis (DVT). Travelers with any of these conditions should be aware of the possibility of developing DVT and should see their doctors before their trip for additional recommendations on how to prevent its onset.

8 If you are traveling to parts of the world where certain diseases are endemic (e.g. malaria), you could also be at risk for these. Visit your doctor for preventive treatments like immunization and prophylactic medication.

(Via: http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/health-checks-before-and-after-a-long-trip/)

Going somewhere new for the first time is an exhilarating feeling but can leave you jittery too. You should bear in mind that half of the trip is already won by planning ahead so you have nothing left to do but to enjoy your vacation once the time comes. Do your homework. Find out what the weather will be like in the place you are visiting so you can bring the right set of clothes and footwear. Plan enough clothes but not too much or risk paying thousands on excess baggage.

Those are just some of the tips any traveler needs to remember when going out on a trip. It is not always easy and you may face challenges along the way such as financial issues and visa problems but as long as you have enough time on your hands, you’d be ale to work things out. Nothing compares to the joy traveling can give you. It gives a new meaning to your life and memories that can last you a lifetime aside from having an excuse to escape the daily grind if only for a while.

Keep Your Health In Check While Traveling is republished from Degrafa.com

source https://www.degrafa.com/keep-your-health-in-check-while-traveling/

Dance To The Music Of The Times

Dancing is like art in motion. Similar to spoken poetry, the grace and fluid body movements of dancers captivate the hearts and attention of the audience. Not everyone is gifted with such a talent. And if you are among the gifted, you need to hone your talent through the years because it can get rusty over time. Like singers, most dancers start to train young. They join dance classes and dance groups to build their familiarity with the different grooves and build their confidence on stage as well.

Dancers invest their time and effort in perfecting their craft. However, like with any other aspects of the arts in the country today, it is at serious risk of budget cuts that can affect productions and so much more. President Trump does not fully support the arts in his federal budget plans, so is education, free trade, etc. Will the industry ever cope with such a lack of support from the federal government or is it the end for everyone involved?

On Thursday, the Trump administration released a preliminary 2018 budget proposal, which details many of the changes the president wants to make to the federal government’s spending. The proposal covers only discretionary, not mandatory, spending.

To pay for an increase in defense spending, a down payment on the border wall and school voucher programs, among other things, funding was cut from the discretionary budgets of other executive departments and agencies. The Environmental Protection Agency, the State Department and the Agriculture Department took the hardest hits. The proposal also eliminates funding for 19 agencies.

(Via: https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/politics/trump-presidential-budget-2018-proposal/?utm_term=.c5fe656dfa0a)

There will be dance protests in an effort to raise awareness and catch the attention of the administration. What they seek is for Trump to allocate sufficient budget in all aspects of governance and not just pool all the resources on a select few.

So, on Thursday, the Dance Liberation Network and NYC Artist Coalition will host an event called "Let NYC Dance" in Brooklyn that aims to raise awareness about the outdated law and encourages people to sign a petition asking the Department of Cultural Affairs for its repeal.

"This law should have been taken off the books years ago," said Let NYC Dance organizer Adam Snead. "The fact that it remains is not only an ugly blemish on a city that is seen as the cultural capital of America, but also a reminder that we are still not truly free to live out loud. If we cannot express ourselves through the simple, natural movement of dance, then how can we claim to truly be free?"

(Via: http://www.wmagazine.com/story/let-nyc-dance-repeal-new-york-cabaret-law)

While we see dance as an art and as a form of entertainment, it actually generates a lot of profit from tourists both here and abroad. Without enough budget, local initiatives may also be affected in a big way.

Bush argues that access to arts and culture should not be determined by an individual’s financial state.
“Everyone should have access and opportunities to experience the arts regardless of their economic status, where they live, ethnicity or disability,” he said. “This budget proposal must not be approved. ASC, the cultural community and its supporters are reaching out to their representatives in Congress now and advocate to keep funding the NEA. It is my hope that fellow residents will do the same.”
TheU.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis and NEA data from 2013 indicate that the arts provided America’s economy with $704 billion, and 4.2 percent of the country’s annual gross domestic product. The arts also provided 4.7 million jobs.
“Funding to the NEA serves as a significant leveraging tool that has helped create an entire industry of locally based small businesses and jobs that cannot be outsourced,” Bush said. “Investment in the NEA provides funding that promotes artistic innovation and addresses access social, technological and healthcare issues.”

(Via: http://www.thecharlottepost.com/news/2017/03/20/arts-and-entertainment/trump-budget-would-hurt-local-arts/)

Dance is an artistic and graceful expression of a nation’s rich history and culture. Although we could not put a monetary value on its impact to everyone, we could never put a price on its contribution to society in general. The threat of Trump’s budget cuts feels more real as the days go by. It is why artists all over the country unite in asking the president to make changes to his policies and consider the impact of the arts on the development of America as a first-world country from then until now.

Dance To The Music Of The Times is available on The Degrafa.com Blog

source https://www.degrafa.com/dance-to-the-music-of-the-times/

How To Capture Instagram-Worthy Photos

With the growing popularity of social media today, there is a need to constantly update your family, friends, and acquaintance about what’s new in your life on a daily basis. Hence, the term “selfie” became a sensational hit and was even added to dictionaries. Other words that are related to taking photos also appeared like groufie, for instance. It simply means a group selfie.

We only realized how narcissistic we all are with the advent of smartphones and social media. And you don’t even need to purchase an expensive DSLR camera to capture Instagram-worthy photos. Your personal smartphone will do. You can copy popular poses on Instagram and fill your feed with amateur photos that look professional to the untrained eye. And mind you, people make a living from their social media accounts. You’ll be surprised on how much they make just posting photos, videos, and updates about themselves.

It's a hard life. 21 years old, 300,000 followers, traveling the world for a living, posting your photographic results to Instagram. That's the day-to-day of Jacob Riglin, who is instantly likeable no matter how much you want to begrudge his seemingly perfect life. Instagram has made him a star, and, if you follow his guidance, maybe it can amp up your social appeal too.

You're not going to become an Instagram sensation by posting endless selfies and snaps of your bezzies on a night out, though. You need a hook, you need commitment and, most importantly, you need something people want to look at. Want to become a photographic hit? Follow these rules and you'll take a significant step closer to that goal.

Instagram's got millions of users, all sharing their snaps and pushing the internet to the point of image overload. If you're going to stand out from the masses, you're going to need to be doing something unique. Riglin suggests the best way to do this is to hunt for a new angle and perspective on the shots you're sharing.

"I very much go after the unique perspective, the perspective that hasn't been seen, the angle that hasn't been shot," he explains. "I look at a location, I see what's been shot and I work out how I can do that differently. I find that my followers really like when they see a location that's been shot a hundred times but I've found a different angle that no one else has seen."

(Via: http://www.digitalspy.com/tech/cameras/feature/a799821/how-to-become-an-instagram-success-7-photography-tips-from-one-of-instagrams-biggest-stars/)

Maintaining a social media account like Instagram, though, entails a lot of hard work. For the average people who find adulting hard, you might struggle to try to post unique photos and stories on your social media feed daily.

With the rising popularity of digital technology, social media has become a tempting platform for photographers to promote their talents online. Disseminated by Facebook, Instagram on smart phones, tablets and home computers, photography today thrives online. Even though the effectiveness of a social media platform totally depends on every photographer's goals and objectives, it definitely has proven to be a valuable medium for promoting many businesses.

Believe it or not, posting a photograph on Instagram has definitely much more eternal feel than any other social media platform. Capturing a successful snapshot for Instagram entails effective planning that can successfully catch attention of the audience.  While I no longer use the Instagram square format - when I did, I enjoyed finding the right photograph that I could recompose to that format.

The Instagram square format gives a photographer a chance to recompose an existing shot a second time - not all photos work in this format, so it was a welcome challenge to curate the right shots for the feed.  I will often post the same photo that I post on other sites to Instagram, but I also use it to post mobile shots, behind the scenes photos that I take while exploring, or other shots that I decide to take just for the Instagram crowd.

(Via: http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/freaktography-/social-media-photographer_b_9481126.html)

You don’t have to be a pro to have an Instagram account with thousands of followers. You just have to keep all these tips in mind in capturing and sharing interesting and unique photos that will keep your followers captivated and looking forward to your every post. Also, remember to post daily so people will have something to look out for every day.

And most of all, have fun. While many people take social media seriously because of the potential to make lots of money from it, don’t lose yourself in the process. Posting all these amazing photos can give you a new perspective on life but not all are real. There are many tricks that photographers do to make their photos look more enticing but are far from the truth. Don’t be like them and just enjoy your time while on social media. Remember that before social media marketers came, these platforms were used to connect people (family, friends, acquaintance and colleagues) and likewise help them connect with like-minded individuals.

How To Capture Instagram-Worthy Photos was initially published to The Degrafa.com Blog

source https://www.degrafa.com/how-to-capture-instagram-worthy-photos/

The Mysteries Of The Dark Web: The Pedophile’s Playground

We are all familiar with computers and how they work. We use it on a daily basis we have learned a lot of tricks in navigating the web. But as ordinary people, there are still many things we do not know about the Internet. Aside from the web that we navigate each day, there is the dark web that is home to all sorts of criminals on the planet.

There is nothing as loathsome as child pornography. Imagine taking advantage of a vulnerable child and taking away their innocence because of a pedophile’s selfish sexual desires. Kids should be allowed to be kids and play to their heart’s content. But today, many pedophiles lurk in the dark corners of the web where children from all over the world are exploited by these heartless creatures.

 The illegal trade in children being raped and violently abused is at “a level of epidemic proportions” according to an internal Canadian government memo obtained last summer by The Canadian Press.

It was the fourth major statement by North American senior government staff warning of a crisis that too few in the media seem prepared to recognize much less report on.

— In 2015, FBI Assistant Director Joseph Campbell announced, in an interview with the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), there is an epidemic of child sex trafficking and pedophilia sweeping America.

— At a June press conference, Special Agent John Reynolds with U.S. Department of Homeland Security said “the incidence of child sexual exploitation has reached staggering proportions.”

— Last May, then director of the Pentagon’s Defense Security Service, Daniel Payne told reporters the “amount of child porn” on government computers is just “unbelievable.”

Horrifying as it may sound, it can actually get worse.

The United States may be producing and distributing an estimated half of the world’s child rape and torture videos and images. According to Europol, the Europe-wide police investigative agency, half of all servers distributing child sex abuse are located in the U.S.

In the first quarter of 2014 alone, there were some 2,048 sites in the U.S. trading in child rape and torture. In 2015, Europol reported that U.S. child sex abuse sites increased from 516 to 2,617 — far greater than any other country.

None of this was covered by U.S. media outlets.

(Via: https://www.lifesitenews.com/opinion/child-porn-crisis-has-reached-epidemic-proportions-in-north-america)

And we used to think that only children from third world countries are exploited in child pornography. When many of us thought that the U.S. protects the rights of young children, we are actually home to thousands of pedophiles that continue to exploit children sexually on the dark web. But thankfully, the government is doing something about it.

When the FBI searched Andrew Workman’s computer they say they found pornographic videos of girls as young as 3 years old. A federal judge in Colorado ruled this month that the computer hack that helped the bureau uncover the videos should never have been allowed.

Why? Because the search warrant permitting the hack was issued by a magistrate judge in Virginia — outside the judicial district in which Workman lived — and in an apparent violation of federal criminal rules.

But a shift in federal rules set to go into effect in December says that a judge in one district can approve a warrant to hack computers outside that district in cases where the computers’ location is shielded.

The change would aid the government in its sweeping national investigation into child porn on the “dark Web,” a universe of sites that are off Google’s radar, where pedophiles using special technology can operate in anonymity.

The government contends that the change — which was approved by the Supreme Court in April and will go forward unless Congress opposes it — is necessary to clear up a loophole created by technology. Because investigators cannot know in advance where a target computer is physically located if a suspect is using tools to mask his or her location, it is impossible to seek a search warrant in the district in which the target is located, officials say. They add that the change does not create any new authority, and would still require a showing of probable cause before a warrant is issued.

(Via: https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/a-move-designed-to-catch-pedophiles-will-lead-to-mass-government-hacking-critics-say/2016/09/29/0d4ba0e0-81c6-11e6-b002-307601806392_story.html?utm_term=.93e34bf6f17d)

The problem with child pornography on the dark web has been around for ages and continues to persist until today. While the government makes an effort to catch these criminals and save one child at a time, they are growing at an alarming rate as technology advances.

If technology has a dark side, this would definitely be it. You’d be appalled to learn that in many developing countries, even the parents of these children sell them to pedophiles for a set price where they perform vulgar and disturbing sexual acts in front of the webcam. Until the authorities manage to wipe out all pedophiles and other criminals on the dark web, they will continue to be a threat to everyone especially now that everything is becoming digital and kids as young as toddlers have open access to tablets and smartphones.

The article The Mysteries Of The Dark Web: The Pedophile’s Playground was first published on Degrafa.com Blog

source https://www.degrafa.com/the-mysteries-of-the-dark-web-the-pedophiles-playground/