Stop The Insanity, Your Vote Counts

It is our moral obligation as American citizens to stop the insanity known as Donald Trump. It is mind-boggling that despite his rampant bigotry and insane remarks, he continues to have the constant support of at least one third of the Republican party, and if you think that you are immune to his racism and warped view of the world, think again.

Image Courtesy of Yahoo News

We all know Donald Trump has said some extremely ludicrous things throughout both his campaign and recent history. He began his streak of ignorant statements when he bashed the entire Mexican population.When asked about Mexican immigrants, he said, "They're bringing crime. They're bringing drugs. They're rapists. And some, I assume, are good people." Having annihilated and alienated Mexican-Americans, he then proposed this: "I will build a great wall-and nobody builds walls better than me, believe me- and I'll build them very inexpensively. I will build a great, great wall on our southern border, and I will make Mexico pay for that wall. Mark my words." Great idea Donald! Publicly humiliate and insult an entire nation, and then expect them to build a wall for you! Donald Trump is also a big promoter of the fallacy that all Muslims are terrorists or members of ISIS. He even said that as President, he wouldn't even let Muslims into the country. "Donald Trump is calling for a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States,
 said Trump the egotistic manic talking in third person. He honestly believes that every Muslim that enters this country is going to end up bombing a building, and it is shocking to me that someone running for President can actually be that ignorant. As if that were not enough, Trump constantly insults women, and he basically sees them as property and eye candy. At one of his rallies, he claimed that Hillary Clinton "got schlonged" in her 2008 Democratic Primary race. Trump has also compared women to inanimate pieces of objects and said that "a young and beautiful piece of ass" is all that you need in life as a man.

Image Courtesy of GQIndia

What bothers me most about Donald Trump, however, is that he is being deliberately cruel to many of the people that he meets. When he says these hurtful and mean things, I don't believe he is being honest or blunt. When someone returns the favor and gives him a piece of their mind, he results to childish insults. He never just simply disagrees, but always attacks someone when he feels challenged. He would never be fit to lead this country.

As citizens, we all have the power to make a change. Our power is in our ability to cast a vote. This election cycle, anyone who stands by and watches a racist dictator potentially become the President of the most powerful nation in the world, has no one to blame but themselves. In Utah, we get to voice our opinions on who becomes our nominee for President of the United States, on Tuesday, March 22. Let's make sure we get out as many people as possible to go to the caucuses to cast their ballot for anyone but Donald Trump. The Democratic Caucuses will be held at Ecker Hill Middle School at 6 pm and the Republican Caucuses will be held at Park City High School at 6 pm. Talk to your parents and anyone you know that is eligible to vote to go out there and make a difference. Let us hope that the person that will represent the United States is someone who believes in the values of our founding fathers, that were based on the premise that our country is made up of immigrants and that we are open to all schools of thought. Racist, sexist, and ignorant bigots do not make for good leaders, let alone President of the United States.

If you want anymore information on the Democratic or Republican Caucuses, you can click on their respective links.

My First Battle With The Flu

Body aches, tissues, Advil, and no desire to do anything whatsoever. If you've ever had the flu, you'll know exactly what I'm talking about. I recently just recovered from my first battle with the flu, and let me tell you, it is definitely not a fun experience.

The flu isn't just your average sniffle and cough. On top of those usually annoying symptoms, your body is either burning like hell, or as cold as the North Pole. I recall waking up randomly in the middle of the night, sweating profusely, shaking, and not quite sure where I was. Having mustered all the energy I could find, a voice I hardly recognized as my own squealed, "Mom! Help me! I have no idea what's going on! I'm burning up." These are the moments when even an adolescent such as myself is grateful for the wealth of knowledge and the comforting voice of a mother who reassuringly says, "Everything is going to be okay." Two doses of Advil and Theraflu and fifteen minutes of cold presses on my forehead that felt more like ice buckets, given my 105 degree fever, and I finally began to feel a semblance of relief. Although the fever had subsided, your average cold symptoms did not. I went through what felt like two thousand boxes of tissues, and coughed my guts out; not to mention the missing skin under my nose. What's that all about? As if the body aches were not enough, you also have to feel a burning sensation on your raw nostrils from blowing your nose. You can read more about my terrible symptoms here.

Image Courtesy of The Glow

All this made me start to think, what did people do before the invention of Advil, Theraflu, cough syrup, tissues, and Vicks? How did their aching bodies, runny noses, and congested lungs heal without modern medicine? Did they just sit there and wait to be cured?

Another downside to the flu and being sick in general is that if you're sick enough and that thermometer reads a high temperature, you're going to miss some school. Missing school means mountains and mountains of homework and tests that you have to make up. Usually, the work is overwhelming in quantity, but is pretty simple to do. Unfortunately, I missed three days of school leading up to finals week, so I'm going to have to make up the work as I study and take my finals which make or break my GPA for the quarter.

All in all, when it comes to being sick, the flu was probably one of my worst experiences yet. Now if you'll excuse me, I have ten more assignments to catch up on.

Gratitude

Parents. Can't live with them, and can't live without them. As teens, many of us tend to distance ourselves from our beloved parents. They annoy us, they embarrass us, and they always manage to say exactly the wrong thing at the wrong time. The truth is, regardless of the raging hormones and emotional ups and downs, when I'm really honest with myself, I couldn't be more grateful for having two people in my life who always put my needs before their own.

My mom and dad are truly selfless when it comes to my sister and I. They exemplify the meaning of unconditional love. I always know that they have my back no matter what I've done, and if I have a moment of self doubt, they are always there to let me know that anything is possible and they will be by my side. This morning I was looking at childhood photo albums. It warmed my heart to see photos of my parents fully engaged in everything I did. My father gave up his time to coach my soccer team with patience and kindness. My mother was my biggest cheerleader (though at times embarrassing) and never missed a game. Growing up, and even now, I have always depended on their wisdom and great advice when it came to school. My father, the math wiz, and my mother, the writing guru, have helped me throughout my educational career.

My Family

Sometimes I feel like instead of making life difficult for our parents, criticizing them for the smallest things they say, rolling our eyes, and slamming our doors, we should take a moment of self reflection, to think about those who don't have doting parents fulfilling their every need. Instead of taking our parents for granted, we should appreciate their love and compassion, and treat them with the respect they deserve. Being a parent is not an easy task, and believe me, we can be a handful at our age to say the least. I suppose the next time we have the urge to roll our eyes or talk back or ignore a request, we should take a deep breath and instead practice gratitude and compassion. 

I, for one, am grateful to have two of the most loving, caring, understanding, and dedicated parents on the planet. My mom always says,"That it's not a popularity contest; that at times she may say things that I don't like or may even believe are unfair. But someday, I will realize that she's doing it for my best interest." That day is now, for I am truly aware that they have my best interest at heart and I am forever grateful for their presence in my life.

I love you Mom and Dad. Thank you for being you.

Dear Mr. Trump

Dear Donald Trump,

Yes, you are actually reading this, and no, you are not seeing things. I am speaking to you, the one and only, Donald Trump. The man who has captivated an entire nation. The man who started from the bottom with a small loan of one million dollars, and rose to become the rich dimwit he is today. The man who has created the most idiotic ideas on how to run a country that I have ever heard. Although it may be hard to believe, you are the one person I want to read this blog the most.

Image Courtesy of Slate

I recently talked about the completely absurd event that took place at one of your rallies, and called you out for being the idiot you are. After being presented with this ideal reader assignment for my blog, I realized that my previous post will probably not be the last time I'll be talking about you. My blog's topics have mainly been random ideas that come into my head, but I've been thinking about starting to consistently write one or two posts about the same topic for each blog assignment. I mean let's face it, when it comes to you, it's not like I'm going to run out of material. If you already couldn't tell that I really do dislike you, let me put it this way: I would rather jump off of a building than see you become the leader of our country. I mean, can you blame me? Your views on how our country should be run are completely idiotic, yet you have the most support out of any of the other candidates. Why is that? I've been asking myself this same question for about a month now, and I still haven't reached a legitimate or reasonable conclusion.

I mean, don't get me wrong, I admire the fact that you have somehow managed to brainwash millions of people into following you and your ridiculous ideals, but that still doesn't change the fact that you are the wrong man for the job, and I know I'm not the only one out there that feels this way. There are plenty of others that loathe you, and I'm actually being really nice compared to some of these other people. Let's be real Donald, some of these folks are calling you the next Hitler so maybe it's time you did a little bit of self reflecting.

Although it is very unlikely that someone as "important" as you will read a blog such as mine, I still cling onto the hopes that you someday might read this blog and change your ways. I hope that if you were to read this blog, you'd realize how much of a fool you are being, and you'd mature into a possible candidate to lead our country.

But let's be realistic, Donald. We both know that will never happen.

Outrage

What the heck has happened to the first amendment? What has happened to freedom of religion? When did people like Donald Trump become the voice of our beloved nation? You'll have to watch this video for yourself, because it is hard to believe that we have become such an exclusionary and judgmental country. Is it because we are afraid? Does our terrible behavior come from ignorance?

Hopefully you weren't too lazy to watch the video, but if you were, here's the main idea. Rose Hamid, a 56 year old American-Muslim flight attendant, was peacefully attending a Donald Trump rally in South Carolina with a t-shirt that said, "Salam. I come in peace." She described the few people around her as open and amiable despite the fact she was wearing a hijab (traditional Muslim scarf over the head) to the rally. However, things took a turn for the worse when Donald Trump started to rant about Muslims. The crowd adopted a mob-type mentality and started shouting hateful things at her. Security then came and escorted her out to calm down the crowd as Trump said, "We have a problem. And I'm going to fix it." Since when did peacefully sitting at a rally become a problem?

Image courtesy of WND

After watching the video, ask yourself this question. What makes that woman different than you and I? Nothing, absolutely nothing, except for the fact that she chooses to wear a hijab. Does that make her a bad person? Does that make her a terrorist? I googled the number of Muslims in the world today and I was surprised. Take a wild guess at how many Muslims live in the world. 1.6 billion. That is more than one seventh of the world's population. Of that 1.6 billion, how many aspire to radical Islam and spread terror throughout the world? Should we be treating all Muslims as if they are terrorists? Should we be listening to the propaganda of hate mongering, right-wing politicians?

I, for one, choose to believe that we are better and bigger than that. I choose to believe that we are a nation built on immigrants, a nation that takes pride in being a melting pot, and a nation that opens its arms to diversity and compassion.

It is up to those of us who insist on upholding the foundation set by our founding fathers to stand up, speak out, and put an end to this non-American fear based nonsense. How do we do that? By educating ourselves on the facts, and making the correct decision at the voting booth.

My Sister

Caring. Compassionate. Real. Always by my side. Who do you suppose that is? Yep, you guessed it, my sister Isabelle, or Izzy as I call her. We are twenty two months apart and even though most people think that brothers and sisters can't be that close, she and I have always had been the best of friends. When I was little, I didn't have to have friends to wrestle or to play soccer in the backyard. I had her. She's everything I would want in a brother, yet she is a beautiful, smart, and loving girl.

Growing up, my sister and I did everything together. From jumping on our parents' bed to driving my electric scooter down the neighborhood. From laughing and telling jokes, to playing handball in our house and breaking countless vases. My sister and I could do literally everything with each other. We are always there for each other. When I'm sad, I'll confide in her. When I'm sick, she cares for me. I can say with one hundred percent certainty that if I ever need her, she'll be right there for me.

Today, my sister is a fun, pretty, and popular girl and I'm in a bit of a situation. I'm starting to get the feeling that as I get older, the more my friends talk about her. Being the overprotective big brother I am, I act as her personal bodyguard, protecting her from boys. If guys want to get to her, they'll have to get through me. Now that I think about, that's probably why she never tells me about who she likes, or who she's dating.

My sister and I

I think it's safe to say that I am the luckiest brother in the world to have a sibling like her, and even luckier that we have such a strong relationship and not one that has our parents looking at a site like this. Many of my friends rarely get along with their siblings, if at all, and they are amazed at how Isabelle and I almost never get into arguments. Sometimes I wonder what will happen when we go to college. What if we don't end up in the same college? Even though we are nearly two years apart, we have only been one year apart in school, as she started one year early. Sometimes I wonder about when she and I will go our separate ways, to get married and have our own kids. Will they be as close as we are?

All I know for certain is that no matter where we are, no matter how far apart, she will always will be my best friend.

Missing School

Hello everyone. I know this is a popular topic to write about on blogs, but this happened to me personally this past week, so it's something I wanted to discuss. Missing school used to be heavenly. You got to stay in bed all day, watch some T.V., and didn't have to worry about anything but recovering. Unfortunately, missing school in high school is a luxury we can't afford.

I recently missed four days of school due to minor surgery and the workload I received was unbelievable. From just those four days I missed: a total of three AP Geography tests, a timed essay, and two math tests. Four days of staying at home and I missed six tests. Is it just me or does everything happen when you don't go to school? For example you aren't there for one day, you miss four tests, thirty-three assignments, and a bear was in the cafeteria. Since returning to school I have somehow managed to make up two of the three Geography tests and the timed essay. Today I am attempting to wipe out the remainder of the makeup tests that stand before me.

During the first couple years of school, a day off was one of the best possible things to happen at the time. Everybody needs a day off, and in elementary school and most of middle school, it was definitely worth it. Before high school, the stakes were significantly lower when it came to missing school. You missed one or two assignments, and worst case scenario you missed an easy quiz. You had absolutely nothing to worry about and you could sit back, relax, and focus on your recovery. Unfortunately, high school is nowhere near the same. Missing school is like basically murdering your GPA, and if you miss too much school, you might as well kiss honor roll goodbye. When I missed school my GPA took a big hit, and it took me a while to return it to its former self. I also chose the best week to get surgery, finals week so I suppose I need to take responsibility. And believe me, I have definitely learned my lesson.

Image Courtesy of FunnyAnd

I suppose we all have to learn to grow up someday and as we cross into adulthood, with our care free kindergarten days a distant memory, we must face the realities of life. I'm sure in ten years I'll look back on these high school experiences and will seem like such a breeze. I'm just grateful to be feeling better and as my wonderful mother always says, "Stop complaining and just get it done."

In the end, missing school isn't what it used to be and if you choose to take a sick week, don't say I didn't warn you. If you relate to this topic because you've been in my shoe, check out this similar post I read a while ago by Charlie here.

Thanks for reading.