Money Weighing Us Down?

The Burden of a Bad System

The weight of decisions is ridiculous for those who make decisions for large groups of people. Who makes the decision to ban guns in America, or rather, tries to? The burden of it all and the effects are tremendous. Now what about raising minimum wage. Somebody has to orchestrate that decision. They are afforded the burden of everything lost and gained by the people, and for the people.

Brad Knickerbocker of Yahoo News relates that “the political fight over minimum wage is a familiar one.” Naturally, those who are at the bottom of the workforce simply want a raise so they can survive the world by flipping burgers. So many ignorant Americans don’t realize that SpongeBob is in a stepping stone job; from there you are meant to go up! People have been urging such a wage increase over and over for several years, and over and over they’ve succeeded.

“The California Chamber of Commerce calls their new law [that will increase their minimum wage] a “job killer.” For once a semi- political bod has made a good call in California! Their Chamber of Commerce is absolutely correct. What happens when a bunch of entry level employees hear that their minimum wage will be increased substantially? Naturally, they’ll be excited for their monetary increase, they might even celebrate. What they do not realize is that any happiness will be in vain. A higher pay also can mean less benefits, less hours and less jobs entirely.

John Kabateck of the Nation Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) warns that “small business owners will be forced to make tough decisions including reducing employee hours, cutting positions entirely, and for many, closing their doors entirely.” What about all the people who haven’t had a chance to enter the workforce yet. What about all the 14 and 15 year old looking to start work soon. How hard will it become for any of them to even land what used to be a walk- in job? Such a thing would and will become nearly impossible.

Over the entire time I have been reading about this, I have honestly thought of myself. I am actively searching for a job. Let me tell you, it is hard enough as it is. I know what’s going to happen when the minimum wage increases. It may result in me going in to college unable to even come close to supporting myself.  Why? This would take place almost entirely because finding a job would be impossible.

If anything, the minimum wage should be decreased. The young Generations Y and Z need to learn the value of their work. Flipping burgers deserves very little reward. It doesn’t take much to do. Therefore, you shouldn’t get much in return. I see so many of my peers complaining and advocating higher wage. Why can’t they accept and show gratitude for already earning much more than the work is worth?

Parents Make Excuses. Period.

        Ron Clark of CNN describes the point of view of teachers toward parents in "What Teachers Really Want to Tell Parents." Parents of students, especially those with children who exhibit an apathetic attitude in high school seem to only force their will on the teachers. These caring parents are naturally trying to help their children succeed in school. There is one problem; they are doing it entirely wrong.

        Teachers are hoping and praying for parents to "stop making excuses." No student will succeed if that student is not reasonably challenged. If the student is not accustomed to suffering the consequences of failing and simply runs to daddy for help every time he or she gets a bad grade, he or she will suffer in any class. Parents are making excuses for failure. This is not success; even if you formulate some excuse, the student still deserves the bad marking for his failure.

        Clark states that the students, through their parents bad habits, will "not {[develop] a strong work ethic." Imagine this: an entire generation of high school graduates with too little or too weak of a work ethic to make any sort of progress in life whatsoever. when that day comes, America is done for. If there is not progress, we are as good as dead. Progress requires work. I know from personal experience the positive side of work. While many of my friends, slackers and distracted individuals alike, are struggling and complaining through secondary school, I've been somewhat taught to have a stronger work ethic. My parents have never made excuses for me, and I have learned from my mistakes. As a result, while many of my friends will not go on to do anything significant with their lives, I am already independently studying Quantum Physics and may have a potentially bright future in the subject.

        Ron Clark advocates the point that getting in trouble for your mistakes "builds character and teaches life lessons." Some students sway their teachers and parents so easily that they can skate by through school. I once was very fond of that idea, as it was once very easy for me. As I grew older and matured ever so slightly, my perspective changed. I gave up brown-nosing teachers for better grades and actually began to try. I failed several times, and I deserved every single failure and every single consequence of my failures. It is only right for students to fail, for if they do not learn to get back up after failing, they may never succeed when they face the real challenge: life.

        There needs to be a big change in education. Tons of people would agree, but perhaps it would be easier to make minor changes first. The first change is with the parents, either help the teachers challenge your child, or get out of the way. Better yet, could teachers, the educators that are paid to put stress their pupils, as a whole be harder on students? Sure, but how are we going to tell which ones actually care about the difference they are making in the futures of students, and ones that simply are just waiting for the paycheck.

Starbucks and StarBangs?

Starbucks and StarBangs?

        Poppy Harlow and James O'Toole of CNN describe Starbuck's CEO Howard Schultz' message of "no guns" in buildings of the highly popular coffee business. In "Starbucks to Customers: Please Don't Bring Your Guns," CNN writers propose yet another red flag example of a highly controversial topic. The critical question is why would anyone want to risk the safety of customers by even asking do-gooders not to bring their weapons, when even these weapons can be used in defense.

        The secret behind the story is that the "Newtown Coalition for Corporate Responsibility" may have been the driving force behind this potentially weak willed CEO's major statement. Newtown, as many of us know, was the site of a mass shooting within the Sandy Hook Elementary School. Ever since the shooting, activists have been calling for gun bans in all sorts of establishments, from parks, cities, public transportation and apparently even coffee houses.

        Schultz believes that guns "should not be part of the Starbucks experience."  Carrying a gun has little more effect than a cellphone or a laptop being brought in. Firearms are tools; they are not waved about but rather only used when necessary. In example, a man could walk in with a small subtle armament tacked on his belt. He buys his coffee, perhaps decides to stay and drink it or leave. Having a gun on your hip doesn't effect anyone around you unless it must be used or even shown.

        Schultz doesn't want to put customers in the situation of "having to confront somebody who's carrying a weapon." For all we know, our preachers could have a Colt .45 under their Sunday morning suits. These are the good owners. The bad gun-wielding folk will do what they please. I'm not sure why the baddies would go into one of the most expensive coffee houses to steal a $10 8 oz. coffee but if they were to do so, they might just pull out their piece. If the rule-following, do-good gun owners aren't allowed to carry, who's going to have control of the situation? That's right, the bad one will be in control.

        As previously mentioned, all of the shock of gun bans in varying locations could very well be related purely to the Sandy Hook incident. This incident could be used as a perfect example of my point. Of course it was terrible, and we all wish it hadn't happened, but it did. Even more so outraging, it could have been stopped much quicker if more people on site had concealed firearms. Now that it did happened, government and activists alike encourage the same fallacy that was made that cause the lack of prevention of the Newtown shooting.

        What is America thinking? Do people not realize that wisdom is found in learning from one's mistakes? We've made the mistake of limiting Second Amendment rights, now we need to allow America to protect themselves.

The new 'dropping the A-Bomb'

In the future, people imagine everything from starships and robots to super powerful medicine will exist. One of the key points to this is antimatter, which makes up both sci-fi weaponry and even powers Star Trek's USS Enterprise. The question is: is potentially destroying the Earth really worth a few little science experiments? Swiss physicists reported after dropping a portion of antimatter that "The world didn't blow up, but there were some tiny explosions." One previous theory regarding antimatter was that if matter came into contact with it, in the process of cancellation, a black hole would periodically form. In other words, the world would blow up. This breakthrough in science may be the key to our future. Luckily, these scientists weren't testing antimatter to see if it created a black hole, but rather testing gravity. They had an assumption that due to the fact that matter will be pulled(by gravity) to a larger chunk of matter in a vacuum, and since antimatter is, well, the opposite of matter, the "ball of antimatter [would then] fall up."

I know that the moment I understood exactly what was being tested, my mind was racing. I automatically decided that if indeed antimatter 'fell up' we could easily have a new form of propulsion in our sights. In explanation, we could, in the case of antimatter falling upwards, tether a chunk of antimatter to an engine, and bombard it with matter in the direction we wish to go. 

What are the possibilities of this 'new' quantum physical concept? It's very prospective, though testing on earth or near it could be very dangerous. These Switzerland scientists were hoping to use gathered information to better understand "how the universe developed after the Big Bang." So are we going to leave it to a bunch of atheists to potentially destroy the world? Is understanding something that won't help us directly really worth this much of a risk? Even though these scientists with all their skill have been experimenting in an entirely safe and cautionary way, what happens if there's an accident? In their published report, they mentioned "tiny explosions." These explosions were the product of just a few anti-hydrogen particles, imagine what happens if they decide to make heavier elements and drop them. Bigger explosions, maybe even some new anomalies. The point is, Chernobyl was an accident, next, CERN, there laboratory might just 'dissapear.'

There's a reason some people discourage becoming famous, especially becoming a star of 'mature' productions. "The mother of twins has found herself in the headlines for her brushes with the law," and I'm sure she doesn't appreciate being called out on the small things. Having game will cause that; everybody will know everything they can about you, but they'll emphasize the bad things. Jenna Jameson once "crashed her Range Rover into a light pole." Normally people wouldn't care about that, but since she is a star, it is automatically front page news. In example, if I wrecked my car, I would fix any problems, and try my best to make sure nobody found out. In her case, she has no choice, everyone knows.

With her being a porn star, what does her family think of her? Jenna Jameson is the "mother of twins," so what happens when they grow up, and somebody shows them a video of her mom 'working?' Talk about awkward hugs. I think I'd have trouble being near a porn star family member. The worst part is, she made it all very public. Jenna "took to Twitter" the other day. Twitter is on the Internet. It can be accessed  by anyone; and the Internet can both make your fame and ruin your life. Who knows what Jenna has posted on twitter in the time she's had it. Her own mother could be incredibly embarrassed that her child is basically a prostitute. Moral of the story, don't be a porn star. And don't dream of fame, because once you have it, you'll never have a normal life.

Critical Hit! U.S Economy Has Just Been Knocked OUT!

A raise in cost of anything would be outrageous at this point in America’s Economic standing. In this case, President Obama brings about the idea of raising minimum wage from $7.25 per hour to $9 per hour. Obama names America the “wealthiest nation on Earth.” Where does Mr. Obama get that from? We’re not the poorest nation by far, but we are so far in debt, we might as well be the poorest nation. How does Obama think that this would even help us to become the “wealthiest nation?” this increase in minimum wage might even increase our debt as the dwindling small businesses ‘receive’ another bailout. Boehner wonders why we would want to “raise the price of employment?” That’s exactly it. This would make it so employers would either hire less, or they would go under quicker, of course depending on business speed. Even though it may sound like a wonderful idea to all the working class people, especially the younger generations, In the long run, it would make it even more difficult for people to find a job, and thus increase poverty in the nation.

Obama believes that “no one who works full-time should have to live in poverty.” What actually is poverty? Is making $7.25 an hour working between 66 and 78 hours per pay period considered poverty?  That’s represented by something around $250 a week, and $500 per pay period. That is enough to survive on. Obama’s definition of poverty appears to me as living in an apartment eating top ramen and drinking water. That’s not poverty, that’s called college. This country was founded by “workers who were guaranteed no minimum wage,” they, or their employers, determined the cost of their labor. There is your proof, we don’t need a raise in minimum wage, our country and out small business economy was much more financially stable when the economy didn’t have the burden of minimum wage. We need to return to that, we could, except some American’s minds are so corrupted by luxury and money, they feel entitled to everything they have, that they shouldn’t have had to work for it. A raise in minimum wage is going to crap in the wallets and purses of the hard-working portions of future generations.

The Sky is Falling! No, Really.

 

 

            Over the past few years, NASA has been tracking multiple asteroids that will be in the direct vicinity of earth in the near future. Scientists at NASA have concluded that one asteroid, 2012 DA14, will make a “record-close pass by Earth on February 15th.” This asteroid will come close enough to be considered a Near-Earth object, that is, close enough to be affected by our gravitational field. Of course, asteroids of similar size to the 45 meter asteroid, 2010 DA14, have hit Earth in previous years. Because I knew this prior to reading the article, the title regarding asteroids near Earth once again began to worry me. Just as any geek would’ve, I was both excited and worried about some possible eminent cataclysm.

            In the favor of humanity and Earth, NASA scientists continued to inform on the frequency and impossibility of an impact. Don Yeomans stated that “An object the size of 2012 DA14 appears to hit Earth about once every 1,200 years,” and again, an impact is impossible. If it were to hit, which it won’t, it would impact with the energy of “2.4 megatons of TNT.” Even though something like this did happen in Russia in 1908, which leveled 820 square miles of trees, I am relieved that nothing like that will happen on the 15^th. I just have one question, what if 2010 DA14 did hit, say, America; How would we respond, would it be another Katrina? Or would it weaken our government to the point that any of our enemies could step in and take over? This is why large catastrophic events like this can have more of an economical effect that just knocking over a few hundred trees.

 

http://www.cnn.com/2013/02/07/us/asteroid-approach-earth/index.html?hpt=hp_bn8

Publisher: CNN

Title: “So, about that asteroid near Earth ...”

Author: Elizabeth Landau

New Eden?

The Garden of Eden is not only real, but may have been discovered to be in a new location. “It wasn’t always like this; The climate was wetter and lusher, but still warm. The herds of game were enormous. [It was] a paradisiacal place.” The Garden of Eden was once said to be located in the Fertile Crescent between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in the Middle East.  At that time, the area of Gobekli Tepe, with its lush, greener past, may have possibly been as much of a paradise as the Biblical Garden.“Carbon dating of organic matter adhering to the megaliths shows that the complex is 12,000 years old.” This would make the Gobekli Tepe site the oldest sign of humanity discovered in the world. In the Bible, God first creates the humans Adam and Eve to live a perfect life in the Garden of Eden; thus, the Garden of Eden would also represent the oldest site where humans had lived. If the Garden of Eden only was an allegory of or Hunter-Gatherer past, this site would very well represent such a paradise. For all of my life to the point that I read this article, I had assumed that the Garden of Eden had never been found. I assumed, like many others, that the Garden of Eden could only be between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in the Middle East. As of now, I am thinking that such a spot could be in a variety of places that were tracts of fertile land thousands of years ago, in which humans may have lived. Because I have assumed the location, and been told that the very same location was the location of the Garden of Eden, it will be difficult to change my opinion, however, discoveries such as Gobekli Tepe tend to reassure me of the factuality of Biblical texts.




URL:
http://www.forteantimes.com/features/articles/449/gobekli_tepe_paradise_regained.html