Just a Quick Celebration...

On Tuesday, we had our election day, and the results for the presidential race came in remarkably quickly. Unlike previous elections, in which the results came in about midnight or the next day, by 9:00, Obama had already been declared the winner by a large margin. In the end, he won by a huge margin of 349 electoral votes for Obama to merely 163 votes for McCain. He also won the popular vote by a handy margin of 7% over McCain. Because of that, we now have our very first African-American President-elect. Personally, I think he is going to make an excellent president, and, judging by his margin of victory and the million+ people at his acceptance speech, a very popular one as well. So hats off to Obama for winning this election, and in doing so, making history!
(Sorry, this probably* sounds a bit faked, but I can't really express my excitement without sounding totally juvenile.) \m/
*oops

Guess What? It's...

Guess what? It's That time of year again: the one, the only, Election Day!(of this year anyways) So, at least, here in California, there are a bunch of controversial propositions on the line here. One of them is the infamous PROP 8. Basically, since the courts recently legalized gay marriage, saying it is a constitutional right, these people are now going to, guess what, put a clause in the state constitution, stating that marriage is exclusively defined as a union between a man and a woman. I, for one, disagree with it, but people are entitled to their opinions. Next, sort of (not really) tying in with prop 8, is Prop 2, which basically forces farms to provide larger cages for animals raised for food. Apparently, (I just listen to their propaganda) current conditions don't allow animals enough room to move around or even wiggle. I am an idealistic child, so I guess I'm going with this one. Another proposition on the ballot is Prop 10, is a 10 billion dollar energy plan passed by an oil tycoon, that along with researching alternative sources of energy, would earmark half of the money for subsidies on the aforementioned tycoon's natural gas for use in cars. I disagree with this plan, mainly because it basically uses natural gas that could be more effectively used elsewhere, but also because it doesn't have a provision for nuclear power, which I am a proponent of. Most of the rest I don't quite get, but, for the record, I do support Prop 1A, which would approve the construction of a high-speed train system connecting Sacramento, San Francisco, and L.A., which would reduce pollution caused by the cars it replaces. Anyways, that's all for now! By the way, OBAMA FTW!

Ads Mess Everything Up

When you listen to a political ad, whether for a political candidate or proposition, what do you hear? Most of the time all I hear are attack and fear ads, mixed in with totally irrelevant arguments that have nothing to do with what they're promoting. I mean, it kinda puts you off politics. Even if you support the ad, half the time you end up questioning your reasons to support it. It's kinda sad, how it just gives everyone the impression that politics is a bad thing. Ah well, what can a kid do? Just giving my two cents.

No on Prop 8

Prop 8 is, quite simply, a very stupid proposition. It claims not to discriminate against gays, but if you read anything about it, it quite obviously does. I mean, they're only trying to deny them the right to get married and actually call it that. Its not such a big deal, right? They still get the rights, just not the right to actually call it marriage. But that's kinda the whole point of wanting the right to marry, so... that's just wrong. As long as you stick to your own definition of marriage, what do you care if the official definition changes? I doesn't affect you. And their claim kids in school are forced to be taught this? Totally wrong. Parents in California have every right to take their child out of that particular course, like they did when we were being taught evolution and the HIV/AIDS units in science. Also, churches aren't forced to perform such marriages if it goes against their religion. However, public officials should, as they are government related, but that is obvious. This is a stupid proposition, and you should vote no on 8.

Not paid for by anyone in particular, but just written for my enjoyment. Donations are welcome, however.

CTY

Ok I just really want to say one thing. CTY is awesome. CTY, to be frank is, quite simply, nerd camp. Nevertheless, it is awesome. It isn't your typical nerd camp. For one thing it's a 3-week residential camp at several notable universities around the country. It also is more elite than many nerd camps: you must take the SATs to get in and score at least over 1100 combined in math and english. You can feel pretty outclassed, though. Some of the CTYers scored over 2000 points on all three subjects combined...in middle school. It is more than just nerd camp, though. It is an opportunity for us to interact with other kids with our interests, and those at a similar intellectual level. Everyone at CTY is also expected to have some quirks, too. Many attendees are almost insane, but when you get to know them, everyone is awesome. In short, CTY is the greatest camp in existence. Btw, you just lost the game.

School newspapers

The first issue of our middle school newspaper came out last week, and i was less than impressed. That's not to say it was bad, though. Some parts were pretty good, but what irked me was the fact that some parts were extremely opinionated. I mean seriously, out of all the good writers in the school, you just had to print an obviously unresearched and biased political article. And on the front page to boot! I mean, you pick up the newspaper and the first thing you see is an article on the presidential race. That's all well and good, and it starts out ok, but once you near the end, you begin to read comments such as:

"if we elect McCain, we will have the wrong president for the next four years."

That, I think, is going just a bit too far. Also, I was vexed by the pure anarchy of the organization. They had politics, school announcements, sports, advice columns, fashion, and even, get this, a two page horoscope all scattered aimlessly throughout a six page paper. There were unnecessary sections in sports as well. News about the school sports teams is all well and good, but they don't need a section about skateboarding in a school newspaper. Obviously, you also don't need to fill a third of a newspaper with a horoscope no one will read either, and most kids won't care what kids in the fashion section are wearing. So, it's a mediocre start, but I hope that future issues will be more streamlined. Unfortunately, you have to wait a month for that too.