Satellite TV – An Entertaining and Educational Resource

Whenever you were growing up, your parents probably often asked you to stop watching tv because they thought it wasn’t very useful. Often times, people think that TV is simply an outlet to escape through at the end of your workday or week, but the reality is that people don’t simply veg out while they watch tv. No matter what you choose to watch, you’ll always be learning something, and often times, that information can come in handy later in life. So if you’ve got satellite TV service, you’ve got access to much more useful information than people who don’t have that service.Have you ever gone to a trivia game just to find out that you didn’t actually know very many of the answers to the questions that were asked? Often times, trivia questions are related to all kinds of pop culture references, which means if you don’t know the answer, then you don’t know your pop culture. Generally people who excel at trivia games have watched a good amount of television and have retained a lot of useful facts that they can use to help their team win a grand prize. That’s not to say that you should simply spend hours upon hours watching satellite TV just so you can win a trivia game later, but it is to say that you don’t need to feel ashamed to watch your favorite shows and movies. While you’re watching them, you’ll absorb all kinds of information that could come in handy later, like in a trivia game that could allow you to win hundreds of dollars worth of stuff. The vast majority of people who play and win at trivia games will tell you that watching satellite TV has been worth it because they’ve enjoyed themselves while they’ve watch shows and movies, and because they enjoy themselves when they play and win trivia games.In addition to better understanding pop culture references, satellite TV viewers are often better informed about world events than other people who don’t watch tv. That’s because there are plenty of great news channels that give viewers access to information about events that have taken place all over the world, so viewers can gain perspective about events and opinions that they wouldn’t otherwise be aware of at all. For example, if someone watches BBC, a British news channel, with their satellite TV access, they’re becoming educated about a wide range of issues that people who only watch their local news are unaware of. Because of that, viewers should be proud of the way they’re using a popular form of entertainment to educate themselves, and of course, that education doesn’t have to be boring. That’s one of the most amazing things about television. It shows that people can learn about a wide variety o issues in a way that is entertaining, without having to pay thousands of dollars for formal educational classes on those same topics. The experiences are different, and viewers aren’t earning a degree, but they can still learn a lot while enjoying the experience.

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“Success” and Education

“The man who graduates today and stops learning tomorrow is uneducated the day after.” – Newston D. Baker

The prospect of success is what drives many people to continue their education. Whether this success means the expansion of their person, the opening of their mind to possibilities, the sharpening of their skill set, building marketability, or a pay raise – higher education is considered by most to be a very valuable asset. The implications are many: you have dedicated a portion of your life to studying a particular subject, and so have gained specialized knowledge and skills; you most likely have incurred some debt; and somehow, you are now supposed to be prepared to take on the world. But are the students of today prepared for life? Are they ready and equipped with what they need to be successful?

Everyone has an idea of what “success” means. And the general idea probably looks pretty similar for most – someone doing well overall; emotionally, financially, and spiritually. They probably have a good job, a good head on their shoulders, money in their pocket, and a good future ahead of them. They are moving along in their life, and they appear happy and fulfilled.

Although up front this dream may appear rather simple, figuring out the specifics, or one’s own path to reaching such success, is the real challenge. What decisions must be made so that one can have a successful life? Does education today prepare students to answer these difficult life questions?

Education blogger Tom Whitby touches on the lack of focus in K-12 schools on critical and out-of-the box thinking in this era of standardizing testing. “We talk about personalized learning for each student… We recognize that all kids are created differently. Even in consideration of all that, we standardize their assessment… We are not matching up the skills that our children will need in a future that we know little about to the education we provide today. Yet, we still claim to be preparing kids for life.”

“We cannot continue on the current path of education if we want to prepare our children for their future,” he declares. “Our children will not live in the world that we grew up in. We need to prepare them to be flexible, critical thinking, problem solvers. They need to be able to get beyond the limitations of their teachers and parents.”

In Alain de Botton’s TED talk “A kinder, gentler philosophy of success,” Botton points out that our ideas of success are often greatly influenced by society, by ads, and by our parents, and that we are highly susceptible to suggestion. We are also, Botton says, very worried about what others think of us.

“When we think about failing in life, when we think about failure, one of the reasons why we fear failing is not just a loss of income, a loss of status. What we fear is the judgment and ridicule of others. And it exists,” Botton said.

Botton suggests that we take care to ensure that our ambitions are our own, and that we recognize that “success” cannot exist without “failure.”

A paradox in our society, Botton continued, is the simultaneous existence of both the belief that we are all equal – that anyone can achieve anything – and low self-esteem. Suicide rates, he explains, are higher in the developed countries than anywhere else in the world. “[S]ome of the reason for that is that people take what happens to them extremely personally. They own their success. But they also own their failure,” he said. Our society, furthermore, and now more then ever before, attributes success to one’s own work ethic, ability, and determination; we believe that people deserve the lives they have, because we are all supposed to be in the driving seat.

In other words, we are supposed to have all that we need to succeed. However, disparities, gaps, influences, and circumstance, all exist and perpetuate inequalities within our society, and the individual is not always in control. We are not all on an equal playing field, either; we do not all have equal opportunities. This is not an excuse, but something that deserves consideration and care. America will continue to work towards the dream of a meritocratic society, but this dream is impossible to fully realize.

“The idea that we will make a society where literally everybody is graded, the good at the top, and the bad at the bottom, and it’s exactly done as it should be, is impossible,” Botton said.

It has been said that education is the great equalizer. And I believe that education can change the world, and our future is dependent on the youth and the quality of their education. Education can help people find their success because it can open their minds to the world and to their own potential so that they can have the opportunity to choose their way. But what can we do from here?

Continue to grow. Continue to move. Know that moving and growing is the only way. Not look back. Be bold. Instruction may end in the school-room, as Frederick W. Robertson said, but “education ends only with life.” And John Dewey concurs: “Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself,” he said. If these things are true, then success is not immediate, nor something that can immediately follow formal education either, but can be found only in the outcome of the entirety of our lives and the completion of our journeys. Education is a form of success on its own, and leads to more successes, but only if we choose to own our own person and lives, and accept our “successes” and “failures.” “You can’t be successful at everything,” Botton said. “You can’t have it all… [A]ny vision of success has to admit what it’s losing out on, where the element of loss is.”

School can’t prepare someone for all that will come, or give them direct answers for what choices they should make. Formal education is only a beginning. We don’t always know where we are going, and we can never know all that lies ahead of us, but we must continue moving forward and becoming the people we want to be. The paths will unfold as we face the challenges and are open to what may come. And if we get through all of that, we will have succeeded – in living.

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Travel Risk Management: Travel Health, Safety and Security Benefits

Introduction to Travel Health, Safety and Security Benefits

When it comes to travel risk management and the benefits of travel health, safety and security, this is what every travel, human resources, risk and general manager should know. In this article we will cover workplace health and safety standardization, productivity, efficiency and safety that complies with the company’s social and legal obligations. By reading this article you will be able to identify the main business benefits of enhanced travel health, safety and security for business travellers and determine if you our your company have a demonstrable travel risk management system that support workplace health and safety and fulfills your social and legal primary duty of care objectives.

After all, why would you exclude business travel from your overall business health, safety and security strategy and objectives?

Workplace Standardization: Travel Health, Safety and Security Benefits

Travel Risk Management Benefits

Have you ever seen or visited a worksite/office where they proudly display the amount of hours or days since the last significant incident that disrupted work progress or endangered employee safety? Most likely. Have you ever seen similar or specific information displayed and communicated relevant to the last significant incident that disrupted business travel or endangered business traveller’s safety? Probably not.

Travel risk management is not, and should not, a stand-alone or extra-ordinary risk mitigation system. It is merely a standardization between the more traditional or know workplace, office, and site health and safety requirements and expectations for employees. It is simply an extension to include all mobile and traveling personnel by means of concern, planning, resourcing and support to maximize business performance, efficiency and safety as it relates to business travel.

Any business that does not have a universal approach, that is inclusive of business travel, is sending mixed messages to their employees and most likely exposing them unnecessarily to compliance and litigation issues.

While the primary motivator for travel risk management by way of health, safety and security enhancements, should not be compliance and litigation avoidance, embracing the objective of improved and acceptable workplace health and safety for all employees will certainly take a step in the right direction to meeting both of these outcomes.

Improved whole of workplace health, safety and security
The war for talent is far from over and one of the considerations by high value talent is the demands and support associated with business travel. Awareness of business travel health, safety and security has risen significantly in recent years but is still significantly more advanced than the supporting travel risk management systems and processes. Employers of choice and those maintaining competitive advantages in the market have been the first to adopt the principles with both tangible and intangible benefits.

Creating false class or safety standards within a company is never an advisable strategy, however failure to adequately support and care for you business traveling population results in exactly that. There should be no noticeable difference to travellers of all levels of experience and status in the company’s workplace health and safety mechanisms and planning, when transiting from a fixed office/workplace to that of a mobile business travel workplace or journey.

A simple standardization for those yet to implement a working travel health, safety and security strategy is advisable. Those with existing systems and processes need only ensure they remain extant and consistent with the overall company business travel objectives and social or legal expectations.

Improved Productivity, efficiency and safety
Standardized and effective business wide health, safety and security systems have proven and measurable business benefits.

Productivity derived from managed business travel can increased dramatically when inclusive of travel risk management. Lost hours, delays, disruptions, reduced work capacity and cost containment are all by-products of travel health, safety and security via travel risk management.

Given that multiple overlapping departments support and manage business travel, the total amount of wastage and efficiency management is rarely visible in a single report or budget review. Significant efficiencies can be realized when the entire system is standardized to support travel administration, planning, health, safety and security. Compounding savings and harmonized expenditure can result in thousands of dollars in working capital saved or re-injected back into the business.

Conclusion: Travel Health, Safety and Security Benefits
The benefits of travel risk management relating to travel health, safety and security should now be apparent to any business owner or manager. While workplace health and safety compliance does apply to business travel it will also result in sizable business savings and cost efficiencies if undertaken correctly, while meeting or exceeding any compliance or company’s social and legal obligations. Objectively review your current travel health, safety and security systems specific to travel risk management and use this advice as a guide to make comparisons or rectify any omissions to your processes immediately.

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