Brave & Free

At sixteen years old I arrived in the texting world ready to LOL my way through teenage pleasantries and chatter. What a shock. In two months, my thumbs sped up and I didn’t accidentally press “send” anymore; I was improving. There was one thing that clashed with my expectations like a spotted sweater and plaid pants. This one thing was included in every book, movie, television show, and commercial I had ever seen that included text messages. I was disappointed. Letdown. Dissatisfied.    Where on earth has LOL gone? As far as I can tell, LOL was once a cherished friend of high school chums. But now they have backstabbed her, abandoned her, and treated her like garbage. Garbage!    Does anyone remember when LOL covered for them, hiding a crushed spirit under lighthearted casualty after the party invitation never came?    Does anyone remember when she provided the perfect response to that video of the cat with a toilet paper tube stuck on her furry head? We w...

Friday, June 9th. The number of people standing for life outside the Greenville Women's Clinic has doubled since last month. There were two or three woke activists there before us, and they fired up a scratchy speaker as soon as we arrived.  Crowded close together, we sang the usual psalms and hymns. But it was unusual, because for the first time, we actually drowned out the noise. At one point, all I could hear was the beat, and it happened to lend itself very well to our song.  Shortly, the opposers realized that their current tactic had been overcome, so they pulled out some gear that was so rude it was ridiculous: long, plastic horns, which were very loud and sounded like they were dying. They walked around our group with these noisy devices for the half hour we were out there. Sometimes, one would stop and aim the noise directly at the back of a singer's head for a moment or two. It didn't matter if they were an adult or a child.   One of the activists, a man I'll ...

Written in January of 2022, this is a letter to the popular children's magazine Stone Soup. It is famous for exclusively publishing work by creators younger than fourteen years old.  Dear Stone Soup,               I enjoyed submitting poetry, photography, nonfiction, and fiction to you for years. My  work was never published, but once I made it to the Honor Roll. I was super excited when I  learned about a magazine that publishes work from kids like me! Thank you for giving young  people the opportunity to share their God-given talents.  Although I hit the age limit two years ago, I still receive your newsletter. I must say it  is very well put together, but it makes me sad. I wish the leading publisher of children's work lacked blatant political bias, but it's laced throughout the company.  Strangely, every piece that addresses a controversial topic such as LGBTQ+ rights, BLM, or Covid-...

"In 2021, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a high school cheerleader could not be punished in school for using curse words on social media when commenting about not making the cheer team while she was off school grounds. Do you think students should be held to the same standard when exercising their First Amendment right to freedom of speech whether they’re on or off school property?"  My answer to this prompt: Public school speech restrictions are in place to protect innocent ears and inhibit conflict. They benefit schoolchildren. However, the favorable result of a policy is not the only factor to take into account when considering its expansion. Before all else, we ought to ask if the entity has the right to take this action.  In this case, the question pertains to the federal government and public school speech restrictions. Since 1979, when the U.S. Department of Education came into being, public schools have been government institutions. The government does not have the...

I had a good time with the final IR Debate this week, since the topic was global warming. The media has blown it up into a laughable farce.   Earth was created about 7,000 years ago and has been going through  cooling and heating cycles ever since the global Flood. One of the most obvious results is the Ice Age. Making plans and spending billions of dollars to try to control something that only God can command is neither humble or wise.  Since I don't believe that anyone should "pay for stopping global warming" in the first place, I decided to pick a side and do the assignment like I was playing a part. All I did to satisfy my conscience was place notes at the end. It worked. Here's the phony essays, which earned an A+.  The initial: Obviously, global warming is a big deal. Climate change is more prevalent today than it has been at any other time in history. Plants, animals, and people are negatively affected by global warming. Concerning the question at hand, I...

FDI brings positive benefits to developing countries. Developing countries basically need one thing to grow, and that's capital. Without printing money and causing inflation, there is one obvious option: Foreign Direct Investment (FDI).  Certainly, in any situation concerning a significant amount of money, people can make bad decisions that hurt others. Greed and selfishness must be combated in every business. Here in America, rich people can invest in and influence poorer companies with similar results to FDI. Overall, FDI is helpful for developing countries because it gives their new businesses a solid start and their struggling businesses a boost. How else can poor countries develop? The African nation of Burundi, one of the poorest countries in the world, is making efforts to receive FDI. Recognizing how beneficial FDI could be to its economy and citizen's wellbeing, Burundi is working to improve infrastructure and general working conditions to attract foreign investors.  ...