Sitting at the library at the university which I attend, I had came early to have a bagel and coffee before classes that day. I was enjoying my early rise and start to the morning and then behind me I heard a peculiar phrase. "Texas needs to die." The date was October 15th, 2021 and Texas had just passed a new restriction on abortion. The law had made national and international headlines with an abundance of exaggerations and, to use media's favorite word, misinformation. I began to listen to the brazen young girl behind me speaking at a volume louder than a private conversation warrants. I could hear every word, and I begin to wonder how many people around us were also listening to this rant, of sorts.

I do not intend to dive deep into the abortion debate at this moment; but in the name of clarity, I am anti-abortion and have very strong convictions and unlike others try and make sure I am not hypocritical in my claims. I am pro-life in all facets of life. For those of you who have read my blog on capital punishment, you have already gotten a taste of my spirit of absolute preservation of human life. I believe each person worthy of life. I say this all this only to be clear about my perspective when I heard this student say, "Texas needs to die."

My first thought was to accept her rhetoric as acceptable because I am on a university campus surrounded by those who believe abortion rights shall not be infringed. Then I did a double take and realized what she was claiming needed to occur was a dangerous sentiment. Three things struck me about her statement.

First, a major claim by abortion rights' activists is that mothers' lives will be endangered if they do not have unfettered access to abortion. They lay out the major needs of contraception, exams, and services also provided by institutions such as Planned Parenthood. I happen to agree that Planned Parenthood does a lot of good and should be funded with the exception of abortions which should cease. I did not ask this young lady but I knew the line would be that the mothers' lives would be at risk. Then I fail to see how "Texas" dying was not infinitely worse as many mothers would die. Now, to give some grace, maybe she only meant conservative, evangelical types deserve this death wish, but that still leaves many people dead and children without mothers.

Secondly, the disregard for human life regardless of abortion views' was appalling. Now again, you will say that she was speaking in hyperbole, and I would respond that I was sitting there and she sure was to some degree but in a very real way she thought Texas was not worthy of existence. Texas did not live up to her standards of "morality" therefore it had no legitimate place in society. Dissenting opinions have and will always exist no matter how much suppression is exhibited, but the volume to which they exist has varied throughout history. One of the most effective strategies to silence opinions contrary to one's own beliefs has been mass execution. This strategy was/is implemented by the Nazi Party of Germany, Saddam Hussein of Iraq, and Kim Jong-un of North Korea. These entities had little vocal opposition within their countries because they exterminated all those who did dissent. It is beyond belief that a United States university student would utter the same sentiment as the aforementioned tyrants without any air of secrecy or shame.

Let us assume this was purely hyperbole, and I misread the tone in her voice. I do not see how this excuses the behavior in and fashion. President Trump when he was still just a celebrity real estate mogul campaigning in the 2016 election said things which had the same air as the comment I heard. Trump said “When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best. They’re not sending you. They’re not sending you. They’re sending people that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems with us. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.” Trump used this line as reason to crack down on illegal immigration and build a border wall between the United States and Mexico. Trump used a subset of Mexicans border crossings to characterize the whole group which is a logical fallacy and one which Trump did not get away scot-free. This begs the question: Why does the university student get to condemn all of Texas because of the actions of some? And again she might have meant no harm by the comment because she is mentally stable, but just as the El Paso shooter who shot and killed 23 individuals while injuring 23 others claimed motivation from Trump. Someone could overhear this girl just as I did and assume those who view abortion as morally wrong, such as myself, should "die".

How has our rhetoric towards each other become so jaded and violent? Do we really think hyperbolic violence is the way to grow together? I, honestly, do not blame the young lady for her words because she is just a by-product of all she sees in society. Yes, she has some responsibility for her words, but we are the ones who have given her those words. We view people as ideologies contained in bodies rather than people with unique, nuanced perspectives whose political views only constitute a part of the person. They have character that is extensive and not bound to political parties. When we stop showing grace, listening to others, and stifling dissenting opinions, we have FAILED. This is not just one side of the aisle that is doing this but a joint effort by both sides. Humans have lost what makes them human and have become embodiments of a political party that polls show us no one agrees with 100%.

I pray for that young lady because her willingness to speak up in this society should be applauded but it is time to view people with empathy and compassion. Just a thought.

The world is at your fingertips. How many times have we heard that? The sentiment is true; the information of the world is at your fingertips, a modern marvel of innovation. Neil deGrasse Tyson explained it best when he said that movies attempting to explain the future always assumed energy would be free and therefore things such as flying cars and houses like those of the Jetsons would be plentiful. Those storytellers never imagined information would become the resource without a price tag. We live in a truly different world than we did thirty years ago. The internet, along with globalization, has radically shaped our landscape. They have placed the world at our fingertips, or so they say. Is the world truly at our fingertips or is the world everywhere else? Maybe the world is looking away from the screen and into the crowd. Have we mistaken information for life? I propose this question that I think we all have pondered for the last several years because I believe there are few questions that are more important to be discussed. We have unprecedented access to information and each other through technology, but are we connecting with that information or are we sitting, soaking, and souring in it. If this access to information does not lead to original thought, solutions, and questions then what is the use? Why do we need a GPS if are not willing to try new places or meet new people? What is the point of social media if we are not spreading love? 25 years of innovation might be the great stumbling block of the next years of progress. Not only are we so caught up in the realm of knowledge rather than thinking but it has also made us complacent on true problems. Sure, speediness of internet is an issue today, but I am talking about real human problems. I am talking about police brutality, Chinese concentration camps, cages at the Mexico-United States border, and increasing suicide rates. What has this technology done to help us tackle these problems and save these people? I would almost argue that in recent years it has not only done nothing to help but hurt the solution. The solution to every great injustice of the past and ill of society has been cooperation amongst the reasonable and swift action to effect change. Now we have neither of those things. Cooperation among the reasonable is greatly overshadowed by the shouts of the radical. And forget about swift and forget about action, now all you must do is change your social media bio to include the latest hashtag: #blacklivesmatter, #freepalestine, #freeUyghurs, #kidsincages, etc. This is useless. As much as your sympathy, virtue signaling, or group think may mean to you, it does nothing for the people truly struggling. Technology and social media have given us a cop out where we do not have to act. Why feign morality for your social optics? Well, because that is the culture we have created. We shame people for not putting pronouns in their bio, not having the right hashtags, not retweeting the right politicians, and in the meantime we have reduced change down to meaningless actions and attacks. I believe in showing solidarity with those who are struggling or oppressed. But when solidarity is the end game rather than the means towards change, we have completely missed the mark. I would also add that attacking those slow to show solidarity makes that the top priority which is why we see it as the end goal. Have attacks through social media ever convinced someone to change or helped grow people in this community? No. Let us consider the marvelous access we have to information, and rather than belittling it with silly tactics, let us use it as a force. Generations of the past would have killed for the information of which we have access. It can be a powerful tool if, instead of soaking and souring in our own opinions, we learn, grow, pose questions, have discussions, and cooperate. Just a thought.

Is the United States Constitution still relevant? When is the last time you sat down and read the document that is the topic of so much debate? I decided to give a thorough reading  after feeling that much of debate was less about our own revelations and opinions but rather soundbites and quotes from those before us. After giving a thorough reading of the document, I realized there is little outside of bare-bones-structure. This is to say there is a basic framework laid out with little detail on top of it as to allow each generation to define and shape their own society. This was not on accident. Men such as Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson were not perfect in their lives, but saw the ills of society as something to be handled by their posterity. Was this a morally acceptable way to live one’s life?  Well that can be up for debate, but at least they made sure and allowed room for growth by not placing heavily dated restrictions and ordinances in the Constitution. The most heavily “time-stamped” and generation-specific pieces of the Constitution are found in the amendments which are meant to progress our society and protects us as citizens. These are things we are proud of so we are not concerned with them as much, but instead turn a focus to the intentions behind the meat of the Constitution, which again is just a basic framework.
In recent days, the U.S. Constitution has been maligned as racist, sexist and bigoted, or rather that because its founders had some of these qualities that the document must be an attempt to maintain their power(Yes, I left out the Oxford comma after "sexist" because #downwiththeoxfordcomma). Karl Marx, a German philosopher, believed that people in society functioned as individuals seeking to attain more power. Every statement and action is an attempt to ascertain more power. Marx’s view has seen a resurgence in popularity as self-described Neo-Marxists have formed. The reemerging of Marx’s philosophy is why a swath of society is painting the Constitution in a bad light. They believe the founders as privileged white males structured the Constitution to maintain and grow their power. This is not only a pessimistic view of people but a self-righteous one as well. How can we look down at men 250 years ago? They broke many rules of the day about hierarchies and who should have power and voice. Were they as progressive and advanced as us? No, of course not. But were they some of the most progressive regarding personal freedoms and rights in their age? Yes, they most certainly were. When we start judging people on their worst qualities and condemning anything attached to them because of this, I believe we enter a very dangerous realm. No one wants to be evaluated off their worst moments and ideals. I also believe we are very naïve to think in 2021 we sit at the peak of morality. It is only common sense that in 100 years people will question parts of our society as immoral just as we do to our predecessors. All this to say the U.S. Constitution is not an attempt to grab power by oppressors but rather the best of its day at bringing power to the proletariat and shifting society. And if I am wrong and it is an oppressive attempt to retain power, well, it was a horrible failure at its goal.
Throughout the Articles describing the movements and processes of the legislative, executive and judicial branch a launching pad is laid that each generation can blast off from and shoot for the moon. In the 1930s, we could radically increase social welfare and restrict banking to protect from another Great Depression. In the 1960s, we could fight against ill-conceived war, racial injustice, and inequalities. In the 2010s, we could fight for prison and justice reform so everyone gets to enjoy the freedoms and protections laid out in the Constitution and its amendments. And in the future we can launch into whatever great ill of society we want to tackle next. We do this from the foundation of a Constitution that does little to influence us but provides a structure to conduct ourselves. And we do this as the United States of America united under the U.S. Constitution. Just a thought

Do you remember growing up and playing with action figures, dolls, toy people? I remember flying them around and giving them so many amazing powers, but beyond their powers was their knack for good and defeating the villain. I was a little kid every wrongdoing made the perpetrator a villain. I now understand that simple misdemeanors should be punished with lighter sentences in attempts to rehabilitate and that minor drug offenses should not be creating hardened criminals by giving lengthy sentences. Instead these offenses should bring about our good nature to offer our neighbor resources to learn and get back on their feet, but that is a conversation for a little bit later. I am here to talk about action figures specifically the ones that had the drawstring that made him/her speak. You know like Woody from Toy Story where he says his line "There's a snake in my boot!" We all remember those key little phrases our dolls spoke to us. My fear is that our major figures in history have been reduced to their nice sentiments they spoke a few times and forgotten for the trail blazing history they made. I think Jesus is a perfect example because we reduce him down to "Love your neighbor as yourself." We forget that Jesus flipped tables in Jerusalem when he believed God's house was being dishonored. We do the same thing with Martin Luther King Jr. We know he had been to the mountaintop and that he had a dream. What about when he marched over the bridge in Selma being mauled by police officers or when he was placed in jail in Birmingham and treated like gum off the bottom of your shoe. He wrote a letter not calling out his enemies but rather those who self-identified as his allies. He was not afraid to step on toes. Make sure we stand up to people who carry Dr. King, Malcolm X, Jesus Christ, Gandhi, Frederick Douglass and others around in their pockets armed with their most white washed and least controversial quotes on a drawstring. Call down these people and remind them of the many acts and demonstrations they had to display to achieve even a piece of their cause. History, may we not forget, is not the same as the past. The past is the literal happenings of previous times where history is merely what was recorded. They will try to arm themselves with happy-go-lucky parts of history to convince you to stop protesting in the streets, and stop lobbying Congress, and stop lobbying local governments, and stop going out to be arrested, and stop demanding change. We are ready for change and we refuse to let a handful of the leaders that you feel are acceptable to quote and make your own be used against us. But as you attempt to mellow their message and deem them acceptable for your mainstream worldview, we will always have our Claudette Colvins. If you do not know who she is, LOOK HER UP. She was not used as an icon because she had things in her life that leaders of the Civil Rights Movement believed could be used to try and discredit her story, so instead they found Rosa Parks. Now do not get me wrong, Rosa Parks is legendary and deserves an award for standing up for what is right and just, but while you use her as your puppet we will call on Claudette Colvin to show you that life is messy. Change is messy, but nevertheless in the words of Sam Cooke, "A change is gonna come."

Justice for Floyd. As George Floyd was pinned to the ground with his neck being crushed, he begged for his life and was answered with silence. I want you to take a moment and consider your brother or father leaving for the grocery store and instead of returning home as planned; he was sentenced to death by the very people sworn to protect him. It is despicable. It is horrific. I want to offer my condolences to Mr. Floyd's family because the only thing worse than losing someone dear is having to relive it because of the necessity to publicize the injustice. Be proud of George because of him things will change. America is done. Politicians will try to secure some votes by blaming this on the other side's policies and rhetoric, but that will solve nothing. I implore you to understand the ramifications of the Minneapolis incident. An entire community is afraid and an entire nation is afraid. I am white but the thought that one accident or wrong move could end up in the police taking my life while I beg for air is truly scary. I can not imagine what young black boys and black men are feeling. No matter how much you pay attention to race, the matter of the fact is that the people of the same gender and race as you that you see in society are the ones you relate to more. The black community thought that the nightly news showing their brother and sisters being stripped from this earth would end after the Civil Rights Movement, or Rodney King, or Barack Obama, but in 2020 we are still watching videos of black men and women losing their lives for seemingly no reason. I applaud the mayor and governor for acting swiftly and for making sure that George Floyd's family sees justice served, but the process is not over yet we must see the rightful punishment carried through with. Nevertheless, we need to decide as a nation that we have had enough. We are all family and we are all tired of losing our neighbor, so I ask politicians to STOP, PLEASE STOP! Stop fearmongering by telling an entire race that they have a target on their back or implying that white people are the enemy of the black community. The white community is an ally; racists are the enemies. Racism is the most deplorable hate still facing our nation. I beg politicians to stop denying its presence. I am not saying everything is driven by racism but it is alive, no doubt. We as a nation need to stop bickering on whether the other actually saw ants in the kitchen and just call the exterminator. If someone feels attacked then we should rush to their side and fight along side of them. This is America, the great melting pot. Let's MELT! Stop fighting and resisting and become one family that has each other's back. Take to the streets and scream it from the rooftop so that George Floyd will not have died in vain. We are one body, and we will accept no form of hate in our midst. This is not just a thought, I apologize. This is a call to action, human decency, morality, love, and justice. Stand together, right now, today, and put an end to hate in our United States of America. Justice for Floyd!

Life is coming fast. Graduation is around the corner. Adulthood is awaiting you. Pressure is mounting. Questions of plans, goals, and schools are piling up on your conscience. Test scores instead of social lives, scholarships rather than friends, and applications take place of sleep. The idea that an eighteen year old is subjected to this lifestyle is mind boggling. Huge books from the Princeton Review on how to pass every test sit on student's desk rather than notes from the class. Heads rest on desk exhausted from the strain of their lives. High school seniors are overwhelmed by a life that they are often forced to lead. Several people and institutions are to blame for this and unlike many I am not afraid to assign blame. First we look at the ones with the greatest power over a child's decision, the parents. Hours of studying for tests that are presented as determining factors of success consume teenagers' lives. Diversifying resumes and applications by joining multiple sports teams, sprinkling in some academic clubs, while volunteering for hours on end. This does not help lead a balanced life but rather pushes kids to be overworked, sleep-deprived, and mentally fatigued. These symptoms of stress and heavy workloads in turn make the execution of said workload not to the same standards often set by parents. Parents create a snowball that they can not stop because often it is too late. We also must fault the high school propaganda pushing kids to participate in everything under the moon. School systems are often worried about image and numbers and this causes an unhealthy push towards an extremely heavy load. For so long school have also perpetuated this lie that college is the sole choice after graduation. College was the choice of "successful" people. This just is not the case. Trades are being taught at two-year schools with huge starting salaries. Hourly workers can climb their way up the chain of command easier than Business majors can find jobs. The military is willing to take and train the best and brightest the United States had to offer. University is not the only option, and last but not least we can blame the institutions themselves. From 1979 to 2019 prices have risen around 230% due to inflation while college tuition in the same time frame has risen by more than 1300%. The inflation of college tuition has made scholarships, financial aid and part-time jobs necessary to attend a university. Teenagers and college students are not calling for free college in most cases but rather for affordable college. While their pleas fall on deaf ears they will continue to undertake so much responsibility to stay afloat financially while receiving their education. Children are becoming depressed, developing anxiety disorders, and experiencing suicidal thoughts due to the amount of stress that comes with the end of high school. We must take a hard look at how we approach preparing kids for their future while calling on high schools and colleges to change their routine. Just a thought.

The responsibility to our nation's youth has been delegated to hardworking, underfunded, and often underpaid individuals. Beautifully talented individuals who have chosen to embrace their passion for America's next generation and teach them the necessary skills for many career choices and life paths. Teaching is a calling that only the bravest accept, but to be frank with you all there is one other group who decides they will take up the chalk and write their name on the board. These are coaches. Not to speak ill of any high school coach across the country, as a matter of fact two of the best teachers I ever had in high school were coaches. And high school sports are important, they bring comradery to a student body, shape athletes into leaders and team players. Sports are a molding tool used by every high school in the country, but if the coach's sole purpose of joining the teaching force is to lead a team to a championship then maybe they don't have the commitment to education we would like to see. One subject suffers in particular, one I would argue is the most important. History. Now not every coach is a history teacher but almost every history teacher is a coach. I had two amazing football coaches as math teachers probably two of the best teachers by no stretch of the imagination but every history teacher at my high school was a coach. Now I took three years of history through an online teacher so I could have the best education possible. I think coaches could be excellent history teachers, but I also think many are in teaching for the wrong reason. History is vitally important to help us understand our government, beliefs, past shortcoming, past mistakes. Not to be cliché but Winston Churchill once said, "Those who fail to learn from history are condemned to repeat it." Which he took from a George Santayana quote, "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." I digress. An important understanding of history is important for forward progression. Life is based off of our own experiences and so should mankind's be based off its experiences. Let us not push aside an important part of a well-rounded education for the trophies and glory of sports. Let us just be mindful that history and all course work in a school should be challenging to the student, helpful in the sharing of ideas, and encouraging to the growth of young minds. Just a thought.

My favorite form of personal expression is poetry. It allows symbolism to come alive to beautifully capture the human essence. Here is one collection. I hope you gain an understanding of your neighbor's pain or are able to have the words to express your own hurt.

"Glass"

I stay here

Despite the tapping

Despite the unnotice

Despite what you think

I am here

Born of fire

Cleansed of blemish

I was clean

Before the smudges

I am in the way

I am not clean

I am not strong enough

You can see every imperfection

I stand before people

I stand before stores

I stand before houses

Why hurt me to punish them

I have been tapped

I have been hit

I have been scratched

I have been smudged

I have been in the way

I have been overlooked

I have been invisible

I am glass

I am shattered

"Words"

They sit there in fear

From all they hear

"Optimism Kills"

They say look up

Never to look down

They say it's a full cup

But in a full cup some may drown

In a world driven by consumerism and material success, happiness is often lost among the checkout lines. Happiness we are taught is what we are to strive for. Sad faces are marks of bad behavior and dissatisfaction. Smiling faces are positive remarks. Our brains are just forming and are still beginning to connect information from it's environment into a coherent understanding of the world. As we start to associate happiness with a goal worth working toward, advertisements offer us a sigh of relief as they answer the question of how we will achieve this satisfaction. Things. I apologize to my 12th grade English teacher who told me never to use vague terms such as things, but it provides the negative connotation I am seeking. Material items. Goods. We are engulfed in this world of constantly attempting to raise our social status by swiping our credit card. Our kids are taught this through their tv shows, movies, books, and our own obsession with "the latest." "The latest" is an idea placed in our heads by companies who have turned every last item into one of fashion. Your lamps, stoves, and refrigerators are not solely objects of function but also of sex appeal. When they lose that appeal, as dictated by LG and GE, we trade them in for the prettier and faster. Fashion went from two season to 52, while everything that was not fashion became fashion. We have to keep up with the Jones's; we mustn't fall behind. This new wave of commercialization really took off in the nineties when the average household expenditures jumped 200-300%. We saw a rise in big box stores and goods became dirt cheap due to companies dodging labor prices by moving factories overseas. While this massive shift has been tremendously profitable to the Waltons and Bezos, it has been detrimental to the mental health of the American people. We buy massive houses with money we do not have, fill them with things we will never use, to impress people that do not care, to find happiness we will never discover. Take a step back. Think about everything you own and decide what brings real value into your life. Keep those items and donate the rest. You should not hang on to anything that brings no joy to your life. These items weigh you down as you try and flourish. This is not only environmentally conscience but mentally and physically healthy. Last, I will give you the key to happiness. It is shockingly simple. Choose happiness. You can not place happiness as a reward for a goal or you will never gain that reward. When you achieve a goal you shoot for a larger target, you are never truly successful because there will always be room to grow. Do not place happiness over an impossible horizon. Choose to be happy and you will feel the rest of your world shift toward a more fulfilling life. Just a thought

Last night was one of the toughest I have ever endured. I was driving my truck taking someone very close to me to their home. As we pulled down the driveway up to their house, I felt the tears start to run down my cheeks. I reached for the gear shift and placed the truck in park. I looked at her and collapsed.  The pressure of all of life hit me in that one moment. I felt the weight of my entire future staring me in my tearful eyes. I called out to God. How come he never spoke to me? Why can I not hear him? Why did he abandon me? I decided to compose myself long enough to make her feel comfortable with me driving. I returned to the road and let him have it. He put me here, he stuck me in this situation and has abandoned me. I pulled over to a cemetery where my grandfather was buried. My biggest fan laid underneath me. I leaned my head back against the cold tombstone. The reality of my pain was finally coming to light. My entire body felt weak. The world seemed to be of nothing. I could barely breathe. I looked to the sky and made my plea. I made my bargain. I was here, I was falling to pieces and I needed help. I have never felt a calm like the one that rushed over me. In front of no one, I admitted to my God that I needed help. The tears dried, the breeze started blowing. When I climbed in the truck to turn the radio on. The words came through loud and clear, "I hear your whisper underneath your breath. I hear your SOS, your SOS. I will send out an army to find you. In the middle of the darkest night. It's true I will rescue you." I want this blog to reach millions, and I understand through religion is a scary path. I don't follow a religion, I follow Jesus Christ, and after the peace and calm he showed me on the most terrifying night of my life, I cannot hide his light. If I am ashamed of this power I have, then it is not powerful at all. I am telling you when you feel death knocking on your door with more destruction in mind, you call out to the one who can calm the storm. Just a thought.

In 1963, the 16th Street Baptist Church was bombed killing four young girls. The act of terrorism was horrific but not uncommon in the city known as "Bombingham" by many Civil Rights leaders. Those four beautiful black girls' faces were seen in news papers across the country. The event was resounding and today would have sent media alerts to the entire nation's cellphone, but in its time it felt somewhat distant. A sixteen year old girl several hours away, in the city of Montgomery, described the terrorist attack as "far away". Fifty-six years later, the same girl (I will let you do the math) described terrorist attacks in Paris, Brussels, and New Zealand as "in her backyard." Her testimony begs the question, "What is the real impact of a larger media giant?" Richard Nixon led John F. Kennedy in polls across the country until the first nationally televised presidential debate. Nixon was recovering from illness and appeared on camera as feeble and sickly. Historians have argued that this was a turning point in the election and the polls support their claim. Pictures shared hundred of thousand of times on Facebook brings the entire free world to the front lines of tragedy. Media giants such as CNN and Fox News have been accused of fearmongering by politicians and celebrities alike. These accusations do not represent the first time the elite have got it wrong nor will they represent the last. Media's great influence in our society is not arousing fear but rather presenting the ugly truth that we have too long ignored. Comments by a president that incite racial hatred in hateful people. Warnings of an economic downturn. A gunman killing children in a school. A victim of police violence begging for air. Evil has always existed, and it always will. The expansion of the news media has just allowed us more in-depth access and more exposure to the problems with which we are faced. We have to look into the eyes of victims claimed by our ignorance. Photojournalists use pictures to tell the story.  Those four girls were on the nation's conscience. The street in Paris lined with police showing the world the seriousness of ISIS. The youth of JFK compared to the sickness of Nixon. The masses will deny the validity of new stories until they lose their voice, but when you show them the photograph of the young child weak and starving behind bars at the border they cannot deny the truth. I challenge you to follow the pictures, embrace the media, and change the evil rather than blame technology for showing you the evil. Just a thought.

We live in an era where mass shootings are a tragedy that we see all too often. The head lines of El Paso and Dayton were far less surprising than Sandy Hook or Orlando. In just the last five years we have seen more headlines of mass shootings than I ever wanted to see in a lifetime. This blog's goal is to spread the message of love and simplistic solutions while not becoming involved with partisan politics like the rest of the nation. Congress seems hopelessly gridlocked when it comes to the the most pressing matters, for fear that taking a stand will injure their reelection efforts. But I can no longer stand idly by and not use my platform to offer a moderate, reasonable, unrestricted perspective on these public displays of hate. First and foremost, we all believe that something MUST be done. We understand there will always be outliers such as members of ISIS are to Islam or Westboro Baptist Church is to Christianity. There will always be death and destruction: that is a fact of life. This does not mean we should not put forth our best effort to stop the taking of innocent lives tens at a time. Each life in this world is given great value and we want to retain their contributions to society at all costs. Trevor Noah pointed out on the Daily Show: Mental illness, violent video games, and harmful rhetoric from our leaders has all played a role in mass killings but guns have been at the center of every last one. The Second Amendment was meant to protect people; if it is shielding the people that hurt others, how is it fulfilling the purpose with which it was created. Extensive background checks are supported by an overwhelming majority of United States citizens, but has yet to become a reality because of pandering Congresswomen and Congressmen. Extended magazines that serve no purpose in hunting or protecting a home are still in circulation because gun lobbyists fear a hostile takeover. The current strategy is not working. We are at halftime and our coach needs to step up, make the gutsy call, and change the game plan. Call your House Representative. Call your Senator. Call your President. Make a change. Just a thought.

In 2008, WALL-E warned us all of a day where our waste problem would consume the only earth we have. The robot charged with searching for signs of life on the trashed planet continued to come up empty. An oddly familiar situation as foreign countries who take on the United States' recycled goods are becoming full of unusable garbage. Many of these countries are no longer willing to sort through our "recycling" as it is no longer profitable due to improper recycling. This inattention to detail leads to piles of garbage unable to be sorted for reuse. Shipping containers full of waste are being shipped back to the United States as foreign governments are tired of being wastelands for American trash. This should be a wake up call to every private citizen and company alike that proper recycling should be practiced to ensure the health of our planet. Experts claim that it is better not to recycle if you are not going to recycle properly. In the age of the Internet, guidelines on how to sort waste into those blue bins are at our fingertips. But like the people in WALL-E's world, laziness is consuming us as a population. We have the information and technology on how to reduce waste, reuse items, and recycle properly, yet we use five plastic straws a day, carry home plastic bags of groceries every week, and carelessly toss items in a blue recycle bin. We have reduced carbon emissions over the last forty years. But is it enough? We recycle more but the garbage flow has remained steady. Should we not make more of an effort to protect our beautiful earth? Our job as keepers of this earth is to protect it from harm and we are doing quite the opposite. We need plants like that in Huntsville, Alabama that uses carbon from the air to bottle CO2. We need companies making great products out of our waste. We need our governments to step up and set laws protecting our environment. We need conscious minds to reduce, reuse and recycle. Just a thought.

As a tribute to a friend's struggles here is my latest poem:

Thoughts flood your conscious

All day these things weigh on your mind

the weight of the storm in your head so great you can barely think

You will never know the weight upon my shoulders

The agonizing pain of rolling out of bed

of facing your family and friends

of holding back an awful scream that boils inside your chest

You will nevr know that pain

The tears welling up in your eyes

unable to let go of life's tragedies

sadness due to the lack of success

you can not experience my sadness

You will never know my tears

Standing atop the bridge looking over

That one thought rushing through your head

You wish it would cease to exist

You will never think this thought

This soul crushing thought of how long

When will you hit the bottom

Would the fall be enough

You will never ask these questions

As you feel your hands by your side

Noticing the right is heavier than the left

Looking down to see the revolver weighing in your hand

You will never feel the trigger

Do not tell me to cheer up

It is not that simple

What I feel, you cannot imagine

So rather than instruct me on how to feel

Show me love

Do not pretend to know me or my illness

Your sadness does not compare

Let me feel how I feel

let me have emotion

Let me bottle up feelings and then explode

Support me and accept me

I need it to convince myself to hold on

You will never know my mind

but please never let go

At the age of 5, I stood before a crowd staring down the line at the blue pitching machine. I was determined to do my best and make a team. I loved playing baseball from an early age, it was just something I enjoyed. It did not go along with my hatred of losing, but it fulfilled some part of my young spirit. I would get frustrated in the yard when I could not make the catch as my dad threw the ball, or could not hit the pitch. Little did I know in a matter of seconds I would enter a psychological torment that would frustrate me for two months without relent. As the springs stretched, the dad helping out stepped on the trigger sending a ball hurdling towards the plate at 40 mph. Except something strange happened that would mold me into who I am today. Without explanation the ball came at me, five years old, standing in the batters box, unaware of what to do. My middle finger was crushed between the baseball and aluminum bat. I went along, adrenaline pumping, and completed the rest of the drills. You would think if I could power through that then a good season was ahead of me; instead, I was mortified of that machine. I was young, afraid, and was not happy being out there. I got one hit that season and I can still feel the brisk air hitting my face as I ran to first base. That afternoon when I crushed my finger I became strongly afraid of failure. I did everything I could to stay out of situations where I could fail. I quit baseball after one more season. I no longer longed to play football like I always had. I did not want to fail. I stayed in my comfort zone which was academia. I was a great student and easy learner. My parents will tell you I can not handle team sports because my success depends on others, but I still struggle with solo activities because I become frustrated with myself to a point where nothing will be accomplished. I have learned to use my perfectionism to motivate others and encourage myself rather than discourage. I have learned the only way to truly succeed is to be willing to fail. Next time you are afraid of failure or angry at your inabilities, take a few breaths and remember frustration is a slippery slope but encouragement is a ski lift up the mountain.