A Drill to Help Students Realize That They Won't be Protected

With the recent outbreak of tornados, our school decided to practice our tornado drill. I know I can’t be the only one, but our procedure is incredibly stupid.

My class had to stand in a hallway for our protection. Classes had to walk out of their safe rooms to a different hallway so different classrooms could be protected in that room. Many classes have to walk down a hallway that has glass windows covering an entire side of the hallway in order to stand in a hallway that has doors on each side, pretty much making it a wind tunnel.

I remember in middle school when the whole school just went down to the locker rooms. I understand that our locker rooms in high school aren’t big enough for everyone, but we need that underground and strongly supported area rather than a hallway. I just find it really annoying that the administration didn’t find a safer way for us to find protection during a tornado.

March 4th Solar Flare

The starting of this month had begun with an intense solar flare from the sun. An active region on the sun unleashed a flare on March 4^th labeled as an X1.1-class solar flare. Solar flares are rated by letter with M being a medium eruption and C-class being a weak eruption.

This eruption ejected a fast moving cloud of plasma (otherwise known as a coronal mass ejection, or CME) into space. It wasn’t expected to hit Earth but it was expected to create minor geomagnetic storms. Some of these minor issues could include delaying of flights due to interference of radio waves, GPS systems not being able to connect to towers because of the interference, and satellite dishes also failing. I personally experienced Direct TV going down. The show had turned into a black screen and the next screen to follow was Direct TV apologizing because sometimes the sun interferes with its broadcasting.

The X-ray flux of X class flares increases the ionization of the upper atmosphere, which can interfere with short-wave radio communication and can heat the outer atmosphere. This can cause increased drag on low orbiting satellites, leading to orbital decay.

But solar flares also cause the aurora borealis (or Northern Lights) be able to be seen stronger and brighter and even further south than usual.

Although there were only minor issues from this solar flare, it is possible that Earth will see more of those and even stronger ones to come.

A lead researcher as NASA says that the region where the flare came from (AR1429) has been highly active recently. The region is at least 5 times larger than Earth and is actually expected to continue growing. If the flares continue to get stronger, they could be strong enough to knock out power grids and be hazardous to astronauts on the International Space Station. The astronauts could receive dangerous amount of radiation from the X and UV rays coming from the solar flare.

Considering the sun is rotating the active region towards Earth, the flares will have a more direct path to hit us. That being said, it could potentially cause much more damage.

These sun spots are created by intense magnetic activity. The spots can sometimes erupt into storms and send streams of plasma and charged particles into space. Every 11 years the sun’s activity hits a peak. The next solar maximum is expected to build up in 2013.

TSA Goes Extreme or TSA is Being Cautionary?

With new restrictions, and a few old removed, there is still plenty of uproar about the screening for security at airports. One of the biggest problems being brought up is the question on whether pat downs are really needed for kids and the elderly or not.

Recently, a young boy with his parents, two siblings and his grandparents were ready to get on the plane for a Disney vacation. When passing through security the young boy (3 years old) was pulled aside for more direct screening. The boy, in a wheelchair and leg cast, had to be patted down and have his cast swabbed. The family was told they couldn’t intervene so they weren’t allowed to touch him. During the pat down, the little boy reached out to his father wanting his dad to hold his hand and give him a hug because he was trembling with fear. All his parent could do was act like it was all okay so the boy wouldn’t feel the need to panic. The TSA even swabbed the boy’s hands twice to look for traces of explosives.

In this same situation, an elderly person also gets pulled aside for screening; an elderly person with a cane. The video of this recent incident is below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=YNO-AzPxS4U#!

Other incidents that relate to this include a baby that got pat down in May 2011. One man took a picture of a woman being held aside by the TSA officers while her son, an infant, gets a pat down. He then posted the picture on Twitter exclaiming that this was too extreme. This picture wound up getting over 310,000 views.

Another incident includes a 6 year old girl receiving a pat down. In the video it shows a TSA agent explaining the procedure to the girl’s mother and then pulling the girl aside. She makes the girl spread out her arms and legs and tells her they will have to pat down “sensitive areas”. The young girl complains to her mom and asks if she could just be re-scanned. Her father said that she began to cry after the pat down.

The TSA has been pressured to change the rules now because of criticism of these incidents. Soon they will no longer require children under the age of 12 to remove their shoes for screening. They will also have modified pat downs as well as reduce the number of pat downs given to children. This means that the TSA will have the children walk through metal detectors and imaging machines multiple times to capture a clear picture and they will be using hand swabs more often to detect traces of explosives.

I understand the concern of having to watch your kids be scared of being pat down, but at the same time, it needs to be done. If it’s such a problem then just drive to your destination because it’s actually cheaper than flying these days. A terrorist would be smart to tell a kid to hide an explosive or to somehow attach it to an elderly person because they aren’t the normal suspects. The TSA is doing their job of keeping this country safe.

I never flew on a plane until 8^th grade. Up until then, my parents always drove us on vacation because we didn’t have the money for flights when we were really young. I think that’s a safer route to go. Wait until your kids can understand the TSA’s motives before you make them go on a plane. I understand if the TSA pulled me aside that all they are trying to do is make sure all the passengers will be safe on the flight. Because I understand that, I wouldn’t be afraid or have some huge issue with being pat down. I get that it’s invasive but really, I’d rather have that than be killed by someone’s hidden bomb.

Indiana Tornado

This is a video of a tornado that hit Indiana. The video becomes less interesting as they're running away and not focusing on the tornado. But this just shows how quickly one can form. Within a matter of minutes the sky darkened and the funnel formed and produced a tornado.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5fLJAk98pE&feature=related

The Problems With Christian Religion

Currently I am reading a book called Washed and Waiting by Wesley Hill. This book is about the author telling his struggles of being a homosexual and trying to still be a Christian. I saw this book and was interested because I know that I have Christian beliefs and also am homosexual.

This book is a really good read. It seems like a fast read but it’s very dense, for me anyway. A lot of things weighed heavy on my mind just entering the first chapter.

One thing that continues to annoy me is when people say that homosexuals are going to hell because “God hates fags” and all that other crap. First of all, my God is perfect. Therefore, that means he is incapable of hate and he can only love everyone equally. If there are people who think that their God can actually hate people, then they obviously see their God as imperfect which seems to be demeaning of the authority God should have.

People say that God hates gays because in the Bible and in the Gospel it is said that if a man lay down with another man like he would with a woman then that is an abomination. I’m not saying that the Gospel or Bible doesn’t say that, and I’m not even saying that’s incorrect. My point of view is that God (or Jesus) did not write the Gospel or Bible. My perfect God did not write either of those. An imperfect man wrote those from his own ideals of what God is to him. Why should I follow what a mere imperfect man has to say about God? I just don’t see how that makes any sense at all.

Another thing that bothers me is the fact that some churches will allow for you to be gay but homosexual sex is not allowed. This is because you are not to have sex before marriage in the Christian religion and since gays can’t get married in the church (the only place a Christian is expect to be married) then they can never have sex.

Now the whole idea of that is because Jesus never had sex. He never gave into his temptations and his followers should be just the same and deny sex. However, there actually have been many stories saying that Jesus indeed did have sex. He had sex (and potentially married) Mary Magdalene. There are stories that say they also had kids together. Literally half of the people believed this when the Bible and Gospel were written. But the people that were chosen were from the other half that believed that this wasn’t true. So technically, the Bible and Gospel are both bias sources.

There have been facts all across Jerusalem that gives evidence to the fact that Jesus did have children. However, the people who decided to depict the life of Jesus Christ for every follower turned up their noses to that evidence and wrote what they believed.

I personally do think that Jesus and Mary had kids. I think what makes a loyal man is one who can be faithful to a woman and his children. Just because he was perfect and he’s the savior in the Christian religion, doesn’t mean he has to be celibate. I really don’t think that has anything to do with it.

I think that the Christian religion tries way too hard to shun gays. Honestly, if you are a true Christian, you’ll accept everyone and love everyone no matter what. That’s what Jesus did; he loved every single person. If you’re Christian then you should be striving to act in a holy way as Jesus did so you should love everyone no matter what.

Spring Tornadoes

The weather around the nation recently has been breaking records. From winter tornados to very little or too much, snowfall, it looks as though we’re in for a tough year.

The month of January alone has broken records for snowfall as well as high and low temperatures. Along with that, there have been 70 tornados across the United States. That has made for the third most active January for tornadoes on record.

In Sunnyside Nevada, they had reported a record low of 14 degrees Fahrenheit. This broke their previous record of 18 degrees Fahrenheit set in 1971. The temperatures reported from the Fairbanks International Airport in Alaska have been the lowest since 1972. Fairbanks had averaged a temperature of 24.5 degrees Fahrenheit below zero during January.

Lewis County in Washington reported 11.5 inches of snow this year, breaking their past record of only 2 inches. Midland County in Texas reported 10.6 inches of snow breaking the previous record set in 1955 of 5.9 inches.

The 112 year record of the highest winter temperature in Beadle County in South Dakota was 64 degrees Fahrenheit. That was broken in this past January at 65 degrees Fahrenheit. One degree difference may not seem like a lot, but the fact that it took 112 years to get to that one degree difference makes it seem a little more substantial.

Alexandria, Louisiana set a new record of 93 degree Fahrenheit, beating their previous record of 83 degrees Fahrenheit. Phillips County in Montana also broke a record high temperature by 10°F. The record of 60°F from 1992 was broken this month with a record of 70°F.

Although the temperature and snowfall records are startling, the tornadoes this spring has been the talk of the nation. Already 40 people have been killed by the tornadoes and that death toll is expected to rise as many more remain missing. On March 4^th, the death toll stood at 18 in Kentucky and 14 people in Indiana. Unbelievably, one night’s warnings in March exceeded all warnings in February. On a Friday in March, 269 tornado warnings had been issued when there had only been 189 issued in the previous month. Nights like these still seem to continue.

Many towns in Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio and many other surrounding states are completely demolished. The tornadoes took out everything in their path leaving families devastated and people dead and missing. Families search through the rubble of their torn apart homes in search of anything that managed to survive. Many are broken hearted as they find that everything they owned, the entire future they saw in their home, has now completely vanished, leaving them to start all over.

Many people have helped out these families though. Shelters are being congregated to give people a shelter and food while they work to find ways to regain what they had lost.

Although there has been a great deal of relief from the aftermath, we have only begun tornado season. Spring has just started and chances are these tornadoes will continue to strike all through-out summer. This summer is also predicted to be the muggiest and hottest summer in a while which is perfect weather for tornadoes to occur. The chances of this new-born tornado alley moving slightly more Midwest is also a serious possibility.

Kony is Overrated

This whole Kony thing is annoying me. I know that sounds rude or careless but I think it is just so completely overrated. The Kony 2012 video was actually made 9 years ago. One of the guys that was in that video is now in college and has a ton of friends and is so happy. Hmm it must be so hard to get out of there…oh wait, he already did and didn’t make it seem like a big deal.

I think that the Invisible Children Foundation is only in it for the money and publicity. Only 31% of the money they receive goes to the Uganda army (who uses rape as a weapon) and the rest goes to the company’s salaries. If you were really in it to be a good hearted person you wouldn’t need a salary. Missionaries are able to go to a third world country and help people because they want to, not because they’re being paid. That’s how a non-profit organization should be.

Republicans are Losing Support

Recently in the news, Rush Limbaugh (republican radio talk show host) said a really horrible comment about a law student named Sandra Fluke.

Sandra had presented herself to congress about being in favor of the new contraception bill. He reasons for doing so were among the lines of being that birth control isn’t always used to prevent pregnancies. She said that 30% of birth control users do so because of other health issues, like migraines and menstrual pains.

After this address to congress, on Rush’s radio show he said that all Sandra is asking for is to be paid to have sex. He proceeded then to call her a slut and a prostitute. However, he continued in saying that if she wants to be paid for sex so bad then she needs to video tape herself having sex and put it on the internet for everyone to see.

After his comment, Rush had lost 12 different supporting advertisers. He apologized to Sandra in realizing that those comment had negative effects but she dismissed it because she found those words to be completely insulting. When asked if she would forgive him if he gave her a personal phone call to apologize, she said that the comments were personal enough and that’s enough personal contact for a lifetime.

Now statistics show that women vote more than men. When it really comes down to it, women in the suburbs really decide the president. Since Rush is part of the Republican Party and so many women were offended by his attacks on Sandra, many women switched sides. They were very turned off by the Republicans and it was reported that they had begun leaning more towards the Democratic side.

Even Mitt Romney pretty much supported Rush. He said “I would have used different words”. How do you say “She’s a slut/prostitute” in different words? By saying that he’s implying he didn’t disagree with the accusation, he just didn’t agree with the phrasing.

All in all, the Republicans are blowing it this year. The more stupid mistakes they make the more that Obama will win by. Not only is this such a political issue, but it has turned into a social issue with all of the negative words being thrown around.

Not only Sandra has been attacked. The Obama’s themselves have been insulted by running Republicans and well as the Republicans bashing on each other. Many of these accusations and horrible things are derogatory and sexual in nature. This is exactly what is upsetting women, and will eventually upset the nation.

As more and more of that enters the media, people will become less and less impressed by the republican party. If the Republicans don’t fix their mistakes and become more intelligent about getting to the people, they will have zero chance of winning office.

The Laramie Project

Recently I read the play “The Laramie Project” by Moises Kaufman and the members of Tectonic Theatre Project. This play was inspired by true events about a young man named Matthew Shepard.

Matthew Shepard was a student at a college in Laramie, Wyoming. On October 7, 1998, Matthew was found bound to a fence in the hills outside of Laramie and was savagely beaten to death. Matthew was a victim of a hate crime because he was gay.

In the play “The Laramie Project”, it reviews the town’s reactions to this event. The members of the Tectonic Theatre went to Laramie and returned there several times. During these visits they conducted over 200 interviews with the townspeople.

One of the interviews that struck me the most was with one of the accused. Aaron McKinney was one of the two accused of the hate crime on Matthew. When interviewed as to why he did it, he said that Matthew was hitting on him.

This is where my opinion comes in. I really highly doubt Matthew would’ve hit on him. By the description one townsperson said about Aaron, he seemed to me like a drunken and poor redneck. He couldn’t even get a girl if he wanted to, let alone a guy.

A second reason why this claim seems so completely false to me is that gay people know who is straight and who is gay. We have really good gaydars because, well, we’re gay ourselves. We know what to look for and what qualities a homosexual would possess versus and heterosexual. And I’m not talking about the stereotypical differences like “lesbians look like men” or “gays act like a girl”. There are plenty that don’t fit into that stereotype. But most gays just know based on certain things people do. Just like straight people get stared at if they’re pretty or hot by another straight person, which happens with gay people too. That’d be one of the many ways to tell who’s gay and who’s not. Plus, if they lived in the same town, wouldn’t Matthew already know he’s straight? Gays don’t waste time on straights, mostly because we aren’t attracted to them.

Now, even if Matthew did hit on Aaron (although highly unlikely) why would Aaron beat him to death over that? I think that says plenty more about Aaron than it ever could Matthew. Just because I don’t like guys doesn’t mean I’d kill one if they hit on me. To me it sounds like Aaron is insecure with his own sexuality so he lashed out on Matthew because he’s not afraid to say he’s gay.

Now although this interview stuck out to me, another, more uplifting one did as well. A man named Harry Woods lived in the center of Laramie. Harry Woods was 52, and he was also gay. The homecoming parade route went right by his house on both sides. After the Matthew incident made news, people created a banner just for him at the end of the parade. Harry said around 100 people were walking behind that banner in support of him the first time they passed his house. By the second time that group had grown to more than 500.

I think this says a lot about how society is changing for the better. More and more people are willing to accept others for what they are. Although there are still horrible people who don’t see people as real people, much like Aaron McKinney, our society is beginning to turn for the better and build support for those that deserve it. Rest in peace Matthew Shepard.