Child Sent to Principal for Writing Rush for President

Not so long ago, at an elementary school in the Jacksonville, Florida area, the administration made a survey wherein they asked the students whom they would have wanted to be elected for president: Obama, McCain, or other. One of the students replied "other" and specifically wrote down "Rush Baugh" (he meant Rush Limbaugh, obviously); consequently, he was sent to the principal and his mother was called in. The administration told her that it was inappropriate for her son to write that and that she "shouldn't be throwing [her] views on him."

HOW INAPPROPRIATE IS THIS? Seriously? First of all, why would you ask 10-year-olds whom they want for president? I mean, they're 10 YEARS OLD; what do they know about politics? And, some of the kids do choose Rush Limbaugh, how is that a problem? YOU'RE THE ONES WHO ASKED THEM! (Not you, I mean the school...) I bet that if the kid had written Keith Olbermann, the school wouldn't have cared.

Maybe I'm overreacting. But still, it annoys me to see people (especially youth) undergo discrimination for being Conservative. The public schools are responsible for much of this anti-Conservative bigotry. And I thought it was their job to remain unbiased, not brainwash kids to the left.

What do you think?

Is English More Important Than Math?

I saw on the graduation requirements for New Trier that is it necessary to take 4 years of English but only 3 years of mathematics. I thought that this was rather weird because I've always been told that math and English are the most important subjects that you can learn in school. But if this is truly the case, why isn't there a 4-year math requirement here?

English is extremely important, especially at the high school level. We learn how to compose analytical essays relating to the literature that we read. Learning how to read in between the lines (read on a deeper level) and write persuasive and cohesive papers is something that we will need to use for the rest of our lives. But whether you realize it or not, you will use the skills learned in math (I don't mean simple computation) in the real world as well. Math really teaches you how to think, how to solve real-world application problems, the step-by-step procedures of using logic, something that everyone needs. Memorizing really long formulas is not the point of math (unfortunately some people think it is); the point is to teach kids how to think logically.

Essentially, English teaches kids how to read, write, and argue. Math helps kids in solving real-world problems that require the use of logic. It seems like they are both equally important to me; therefore, there should be a 4-year math graduation requirement here at New Trier. But the thing about English is, even though many people speak it or are learning how to speak it, not everyone does. But math is a "universal" language - it doesn't take any certain language to understand the concepts of mathematics (so anyone can "speak math"!).

So what do you think? Is English more important than math? Should this graduation requirement be changed?

Stop Illegal Immigration

I think that it's seriously about time to stop illegal immigration. I haven't seen much of an attempt to do this because many people don't realize that it is nothing but a detriment to our nation's economy and safety. The one politician whom I trust that has the capability of fixing this problem is Mitt Romney. He has a wonderful plan basically saying that if you stop giving them food, money, and jobs, they'll leave! I mean, seriously, is it that hard to understand? One of the problems I had with the Bush Administration is that they did not do enough to attempt to stop illegal immigration.

Since 1996, our nation has had to pay approximately $400,000,000,000 for social services for illegals. We are obviously in a tremendous amount of debt right now, and the last thing we need is to be paying 400 billion dollars for people who shouldn't even be here! Also, they are responsible for taking over 11 million SKILLED jobs. Now, pardon me for believing that these jobs should be handed over to the many, many unemployed legals in America who are willing to work hard. I mean, after all, they are the ones who live here legally. Additionally, since 1996 we have had to pay about 15 billion dollars for their education (K-12), which is incredibly unfair. We could have used all of this money to better the educational programs on which some schools need improvement.

The crime rate and drug trafficking has severely increased due to illegal immigrants. There are around 730,000 illegal alien fugitives. Many of the members of some of our nation's most vicious gangs that traffic drugs are illegals. The cost of incarcerations of illegal immigrants since 2001 is approximately $1,500,000,000. Plus, I watch America's Most Wanted sometimes, and many of the criminals wanted are illegal aliens.

Please don't misinterpret my argument. I am not against immigration, just illegal immigration. I just want to show you how detrimental it really is. If you want to come to America, please join us. But do so legally, and learn English.

(Note: these statistics were taken from an illegal immigration hotwire, immigrationcounters.com)

Capital Punishment

Something tragic just happened in Florida. During a family celebration on Thanksgiving, a man shot his twin sisters, aunt, and 6-year-old cousin to death. This is obviously not the first time that something like this has happened, and it is not a pleasant thing to think about. But after I hear about these events occurring time and time again, I think about the appropriate consequences of these evil deeds. Should there be a death penalty?

Personally, I believe that there should be a death penalty. Well, it should only be used for very SERIOUS crimes–which would involve the death of at least 1 person–and there must be absolute 100% evidence that the criminal is guilty. This "absolute evidence" would entitle the use of DNA, fingerprinting, video cameras, witnesses, etc.

Let's look at Saddam Hussein. The man killed his entire soccer team for losing. He put his own people into plastic shredders. He ended up killing a grand total of approximately 200,000 of his own people. Now, this man is the definition of evil. As we probably all know, Saddam Hussein was sentenced to death by the Iraqi court. I personally think that the death penalty in this case is well deserved, but some people disagree with me. I mean, after Hussein committed all of those evil crimes, why should we have to pay for his cable TV in prison? Why should we have to pay for the many meals he will be eating in prison? It just doesn't make sense to me. For one, I think that if you are truly as evil as Hussein you don't deserve to live. And even if you were to live, you shouldn't be given such luxuries as cable television.

What do you think?

Thanksgiving

As we all know, Thanksgiving is coming up relatively soon. Many people prefer to spend Thanksgiving with their friends and loved ones and stuff their faces with delicious food. In the spirit of the holiday, I read a poem about Thanksgiving written by Joanna Fuchs:

Thanksgiving Feasting

When the Halloween pumpkins are gone,
And the leaves have all fallen to ground,
When the air has turned windy and cold,
Then Thanksgiving will soon be around.

Thoughts of loved ones all feasting together,
Pleasant pictures from past times appear
To dwell in each heart and each mind--
Then Thanksgiving is finally here!

The kitchen has scrumptious aromas,
The dining room looks oh, so fine,
Decorations with pilgrims and turkeys,
And now we are ready to dine!

First the napkins are placed on our laps;
Now the prayer for the meal to be blessed,
Then we stuff the good food in our tummies,
And we hope for it all to digest!
By Joanna Fuchs


This poem got me thinking: Why shouldn't every night be a "Thanksgiving"? I mean, we obviously don't have to eat turkey every night, but why is it just once a year that we really show gratitude for everything that we have? Especially around here, we are very lucky and have many privileges that others do not. Although I really enjoy the food eaten on Thanksgiving, I believe that being thankful should be emphasized more than just once a year. One might even argue that you should be thankful for being born because the chances of life are so small. Anyway, the poem also got me thinking that possibly nowadays Thanksgiving's whole meaning (getting people to be thankful) has disappeared and that people only like the holiday for the food. My personal opinion is that being thankful is more important than the food, but obviously not everyone agrees.

What do you think?

Friday the 13th

Many people think that Friday the 13th of any month is an unlucky day. If this is the case, then 2009 has really been an unlucky year; we have had 3 Friday the 13ths (one of which is today!), and this only happens every 11 years apparently. An article about this topic entitled "Friday the 13th: Your Luck Is About to Change" grabbed my attention.

America has a tremendous fear of the number 13. In fact, in many buildings, apartments, hospitals, etc., there is no floor 13! It simply goes from floor 12 to 14. How strange is that? I personally think that's an embarrassment; this superstition needs to stop! Many historical figures have also had an unusual fear of the number 13. FDR, for instance, never traveled on the 13th day of any month and never hosted a dinner party with 13 guests.

This belief (that numbers are connected to life and the physical world) is called numerology. It has had quite  a history, and now it is considered a para-science, just like astrology (don't even get me started on how much I hate astrology!). According to professional numerologist Sonia Ducie, "Numerology can 'make sense' of an individual's life...by recognizing which number cycle they are in, and by giving them clarity."

There's one little tiny issue here (which is why mathematicians dismiss numerology): THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NO PROOF OR SCIENTIFIC MERIT!!!!!!!!!!!! According to astrophysicist Mario Lirio, "Seemingly coincidental connections between numbers will always appear if you look hard enough." This is why I am so annoyed by things like numerology and astrology; they aren't real! I wouldn't mind if this stuff were made illegal, personally, because I really think that people need to accept the fact that this stuff is a load of junk and should be spending their time worrying about reality.

What do you think?

Sarah Palin & The 2008 Election

Approximately a year ago from now, we found out that McCain/Palin lost the 2008 election. Did you listen to McCain's concession speech? Well, if you did, you'll notice that it was pretty clear that Sarah Palin was standing near John McCain on the stage, but she did not say one word. Instead, McCain recited the entire speech himself.

I watched a 2-minute clip relating to this subject, and I found out that Sarah Palin actually wanted to speak. According to this video (taken from ABC News), in Palin's concession speech she would "praise" John McCain as a hero and explain how she believes that our country will do just fine under Barack Obama's presidency.

You're probably wondering, "Why couldn't Palin deliver her speech if she wanted to?" And the answer that the video presents is: the McCain Administration didn't trust her. No specifics as to why or how they didn't trust her were mentioned; maybe they thought she would mess up, were angry at her, etc. If Palin had something nice to say, I don't understand why they wouldn't let her speak. I think that it is unfair that she didn't get her voice heard. Don't get me wrong - McCain should have definitely delivered his wonderful speech - but Palin should have been given the right to speak as well. After all, she would have been our nation's Vice President, a very important role in our nation. Plus, many Republicans support Palin and think that she has future potential in the Republican Party. And if you think about it, between McCain and Palin, Palin is the real Conservative - McCain is only a Moderate Republican.

What do you think? Why didn't the McCain Administration want Palin to speak? In your opinion, should she have been given the right to speak?