In Love with Mary Jane

At long last, thanks to my colleague, Paige,  we can talk about something of great value and isn't necessarily a worldly problem but rather a national debate: the ongoing discussion of good ol' Mary Jane. Currently, 29 states have made the decision to legalize medical marijuana, leaving the other 21 states left shaking their heads. Naturally, I would assume that most of those states that have decided to legalize marijuana are blue states, and although that assuption was correct, I was still left with a shocking realization. Based on the statistics of the 2017 election, almost half of the legalized states were actually red (a total of 11, meaning the other 18 states were blue). Well, now that we can rule out the reasoning of the states not legalizing medical marijuana being due to the different views of red states vs blue states, the question would be "What's the hold up on the other 21 states?"

The benefits of medical marijuana are staggering, whether it is used to treat chronic headaches to calming the mental adjustment of autism, the benefits are even making experts change their negative views regarding this miracle bud. States such as Colorado, which has also legalized recreational use, are literally swimming in money due to the taxes put on the purchase of marijuana. Although they can't use the money in certain circumstances because it isn't taxed federally (since it is still federally illegal), they ARE on the other hand able to spend it within the state and in Colorado's case, for schooling. This is probably the smartest, most efficient way to help our failing education system because:

1) People are going to smoke whether it's legal or not.

2) People are going to BUY weed, whether it's taxed or not.

3) It could potentially cut down on crime rates and drug possession charges, vacating already overfilled prisons. 

4) It's helping the users as well as providing funds to the national issue of underfunded school, which should probably be fixed sooner than later so we can actually have a chance in this world. 

So, once again...what's the hold up? Our federal government can TOO partake in the back-stroking through the wads of cash flowing through the medical marijuana capital. My advice; get on board America! Because like Rick James said best, we love ourselves some Mary Jane and whether its legal, taxed, home grown or purchased from a clinic, weed is weed, and we'd love it either way. 

You Dropped a Bomb on Me

As I walked out of my French class (speaking nothing but English), my classmate told me something that made my heart drop. She had told me that USA has just dropped a bomb on Syria and also that they were going to start a draft again. Instantly, I went into panic mode, calling my grandmother to see if she could shine some much needed light on why we decided to bomb Syria. As we talked and pieced together news articles and theories, I ended up changing the question to "why did we get involved with another countries problems? Must we always be the knight in shining armor?"
The worst part is, I actually felt prideful to have been The American's who shoot first and ask questions later. Which is literally what President Trump did, unleashing 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles on a Syrian airbase (which was believed to have been the origin of the planes that had initially carried out a chemical attack on it's own people) WITHOUT the consent or even discussing it with Congress or any other person in the world. NAFTA  wasn't even aware of the strike, leaving our ally countries just as baffled as a lot of American people. Francois Hollande, the French president, tweeted "US strikes show needed resolve against barbaric chemical attacks. EU will work with the US to end brutality in Syria". Well Mr. Hollande, my only question for you is "why didn't you strike Syria then?" Maybe it was because he didn't want to potentially endanger his own people... a risk Trump is obviously willing to take. 
The American people don't need a president that feels we're as indestructible as we think we are, because at the end of the day...we're not. Therefore, as much as I commend President Trump for being a complete badass and flexing the guns, I would hope that one day our leader doesn't feed into our "invincible American" archetype and instead acts rationally and maybe discussing bombing a country with congress BEFORE actually bombing it.

Freedom of College ?

Coming out of high school, I was fortunate enough to have earned a basketball scholarship meaning my schooling was paid for. Being as it wasn't necessarily hard, I instantly took it for granted and never realized the value of having school paid for; so I gave it up without a wince. This happened almost 4 years ago (if I would've stayed, I would be graduating this year with a bachelors) and now that I'm back in school, I realize how expensive it really is...and I'm only at a community college. Even the thought of paying for a university makes me quiver in my boots.
But, I can't imagine making college free a liable solution just because you'd have to ask "where would the money to run the school come from, if not from us"? And as much as I would LOVE to say "Our wonderful government of course", but in reality, we care more about beefing our military than all else. Therefore, I would say it's safe to say the government wouldn't really be a reliable safety net.
Bringing on option number 2, what if they took education taxes straight out of our checks like they do for medicare, and good ol' FICA? I, for one, wouldn't mind actually knowing where the money they seem to be hijacking every 2 weeks goes, especially if it's to something America desperately needs.
If all else fails, then please please please can we AT LEAST reduce the outrageous tuition schools demand? Long Island University, the school I used, is around $50,000 a semester and it's not even a large school, such as UT. If we can't achieve making education something tax dollars can contribute to, the least we can do is making it remotely affordable for us average Joe's just trying to earn higher and a rewarding education. After all, most of us didn't intend that after a whooping 12 years of general education, to be stopped short of receiving that shining degree we all have worked so hard to get.

We the People of the United

We the People of the United States make up 5% of the world's population, a rough 320 million. In the grand scale of the entire world, 5% is but a spec on the map. But here's some relatively shocking news: We the People of the United States also make up 25% of the entire world's incarceration population. That's a whopping 2.3 million American people locked behind bars (6.9 million world wide), which is 724 people per 100,000. Just for example purposes, Russia, who's follows on the incarceration list, has "only" 581 people per 100,000.
You can close your mouths now, ladies and gentlemen...

If you're wondering if this number spiked overnight; the answer is heavens no... we've let this happen since the dawn America, just in a different form. After the passing of the 13th amendment, is was believed that finally, we were all free.... Quite the contrary. If you bother to read the constitution, thirteenth amendment, section one, it so kindly states "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction". 
You may have noticed, there was, as you will, a clause in the "fine print" stating that slavery can and still will indeed exist, but only this time legally. The prison rates were actually rather flat and constant throughout most of the 20th century until the 1970's era began until Richard Nixon decided to declare a war on drugs (1971, when prison population was only 300,000; a 700% decrease of what we are now). In short, meaning anyone who was caught with drug possession was to be charged as a felon, therefore making it legal to be treated as a slave or involuntary servitude.
African Americans now constitute nearly 1 million of the total 2.3 million incarceration population and are incarcerated at nearly six times the rate of whites. If that doesn't give you a blow to the gut, maybe a blow to your wallet will work; you're tax dollars are going straight to funding this jam packed penal system, raining in $50 billion annually.
Can we let Houston know we have a problem now...?

The Few. The proud. The Marines. It was once my goal to become one of these brave warriors, taking arms to defend the people I love. But ironically, I never thought it was a woman's place to be amongst a man entitled profession. Kathleen Parker, of the Washington Post solidified this notion, explaining how maybe woman are in over their head. After the posting of nude female marines to a Facebook group, without their consent or knowledge, females marines are left in disarray. One marine said this had ruined her experience and she would not be signing her name across the dotted line of the reenlistment contract, which is quite the shame. Not a shame to her of course, but a shame to her fellow Devil Dogs, who would defend a male marine in a heartbeat but turn around and humiliate and objectify a fellow marine who went through the same training and spoke the same oath as them based on their sex. But, becoming a marines means you're entering a world where the only mission is THE mission, there's little room for anything other than the necessary equipment and mindset to accomplish the goal. As Russ (a retired Methodist minister who counsels veterans navigating PTSD) explains "We are trained to be killing machines, deadening all emotion except anger. We're told we don't have the luxury of sensitivity, so we objectify everything, including women," makes me sigh with relief, that I never took the oath to be this killing machine. Some food for thought though, as Kathleen poetically said, women must be treated as men but what about vice verse... should men be treated as women..? Can you make a rigorous training of 13 weeks designed to desensitize you, also somehow incorporate sensitivity? We've already declared the military ways being too harsh, but would you really want someone too busy, wrapped up in their own emotions to focus on saving a fellow marines life? If the answer is yes then more power to you, but I on the other hand would enjoy to live another day.

No more than 4 hours ago, White House press secretary, Sean Spicer, chose to bar The New York Times, CNN, Politico, Buzzfeed News, and The Los Angeles Times from entering in the White House briefing. The Editorial Board kindly sheds some much needed light on the situation by publishing Barring the White House Press Corps From the White House, which explains the historical significance before us. Not ever in the history of American government has either political party president ever banned an accredited news organization (kudos to them because they must've been asking all the right questions) from a White House briefing. What may be raising more brows, is the fact that the media that was banned, hasn't exactly rolled out the red carpet for Mr. Trump. At the moment, one might even say they're more liberal just for the sake of not being associated with Mr. Trump's choice of political party. Strategically, that's also who The Editorial Board aimed for as their audience in this jaunting editorial. They also possibly hit a homerun considering most young adults tune into CNN and Buzzfeed News, also persuading them to grab their pitchforks in the battle against Trump. One other key that made this argument logically compelling is the comparison of major political history events such as, the Watergate scandal, the Monica Lewinsky affair, and even the attack on 911, the presidents never dared ban media (let alone SPECIFIC media) from a briefing for fear of looking small. Not only does the provide logic to the argument, but it also give factual evidence.
What makes the author, whom after a little research reveals to be Francis X. Clines, so credible is that he's done his fair share in the reporting world. Before joining the crew in 2002, he spent 40 years as a reporter for The Times on the city, national and foreign news staff.
No more than 4 hours ago did the American people witness what Mr. Spicer told Politico would never happen because of the balance between a democracy and a dictatorship would be off kilter. No more than 4 hours ago, the American people had what North Korea has seen for so long: a media blackout.
As George Orwell once said "The further a society drifts from truth, the more it will hate those who speak it."

Now I would assume to say, the majority of us in this class have a fair chance of one day parenting a child, whether it's on purpose or slightly surprising. I would also assume some of us don't want to live in the country right now due to the new man in the White House, so why on earth would we want to raise our potential children here now,especially after injustice just happened no more than 72 hours ago. On February 7th, Betsy DeVos was voted the United States Secretary of Education, leaving many of us including The Atlantic's article "5 Things to KnowAbout Betsy DeVos, Trump's pick for Education secretary"biting our nails. In this article, author Emily Deruy tells why we truly should be concerned about what's going to happen to our already seemly failing education system now that a woman of no political background, has never had a student loan, and who has never even went to a public school, in charge of schooling itself. Oh, and that's not to mention her goals of prioritizing charter schools, making public schools even more underfunded and eventually forcing our children to attend said charter schools. So yes classmates, this is probably one of those rare articles thats actually worth wasting your time on.