Update on life

Well, I've been here at BYU for over a month now and to be honest, I love it here. Sure, college life is SOOOO much harder than high school, but it's so worth it. I think the hardest thing for me though, has been not having my family here. I miss my younger siblings. It used to be that if I wasn't at school or working, I was spending time with them, and now, I hardly ever get to see them. I did get to spend time with them and my parents over the weeked. They came down for parent's weekend and that was amazing! I went to the BYU vs. Hawaii game with my daddy and had so much fun with him! I also got to teach Carly (my little sister) how to swim a little bit. She currently wears a little life vest when swimming so she can float and she feels fairly comfortable swimming by herself back and forth across the pool. I didn't get much into technique or the part where she needs to use her arms to paddle as well as her kicking. But she's doing really well! My little brother is still as cute as ever. Jono was always hugging me and giving me kisses whenever he could. I miss those kisses. . .

Wow...it's been a while since I've posted. A lot has happened since the last post. I competed in my state debate tournament, I've prepared for my Model United Nations tournament scheduled for the end of this month, my little brother has been in the hospital twice in the space of a week, I've been working more, and I've gotten my apartment for the upcoming school year in college. I'm really excited about that one. I'm rooming with one of my best friends and 4 other girls who seem really sweet. And the best part is that I'll about 5 minutes from the center of campus. YAY!!!! Now I just have to figure out how to pay for it.... :(

Obama did what to the Bill of Rights???

I realize this is old news for many people, but I just found this out minutes ago. Obama has nullified our Bill of Rights. The part that many states fought against the Constitution while it was first ratified because it didn't contain these rights. The part of the Constitution that gives us our personal rights and makes us who we are - Americans.

As I was talking to my mom about this, she informed me that it was only the second amendment that was nullified. But every article that I've read has told me otherwise; that it gives authorities to kidnap, torture, even murder U.S. citizens without the due process of law and no reason as to why. Honestly, I'm unsure which to believe. I guess I have a lot more homework to do on the situation. I'll tell you what I know, when I know!

Okay. Joke's over. Bring back the Constitution.

The last couple of days have been a little crazy for me. Yesterday, I sprained my finger playing a different version of dodgeball in gym class. It's currently splinted right now and is giving me a hard time with everything. At least it's not broken, though.

So I've been listening to Fox News all day (it's normal for my family.) There's been a lot of talk about this contraceptive amendment to Obamacare. It bothers me that he is requiring church's to do something that may be against their beliefs. What's even more disturbing is that it completely goes against the first amendment to the Constitution. According to this, no law can be made to force any church to do something, especially if it goes against their religion. (Do not let that confuse anyone. We are still expected to obey the law. Laws just cannot be made if they abridge the religion.) Why are we ignoring the Constitution?

We've been having this problem for a while, especially with this presidential term. The Constitution is not a dead document. It has survived for 224 years and is still working. We seem to forget that our nation was founded upon this document. Without it, The United States of America would fall and we wouldn't be uniquely who we are...Americans. It's sad to say, but we disregard the Constitution when, really, it's the thing that we need most right now.

I know that some of you are thinking that it doesn't affect us anyway. But it does. Over the time I've spent studying American History (I find it rather fascinating and I had to last year for school), I've noticed one thing. Our nation is dependant on the Constitution, even when we think it's 'dead'. You see, the relationship between each citizen and the Constitution is like that of a parent and a child. Things can be perfect between the two until the child decides to disobey. The more they do so, the worse the relationship gets, and it will contitnue to dissolve until they decide to obey. As they do this, the relationship will heal until things are back to normal, if not better.

The same applies to the Constitution. If we were to go back to the principles of the Constitution, imagine where we would be? Our society is facing a lot of problems right now - a recession, high unemployment, high government spending and debt. The disregarding of our founding document helped start those problems. The first step (not the whole solution) to fixing them is going back to that document.

So how do we do it? How do we fix this problem to start fixing those other problems? It's simple, really. It starts with me, moves to you, and ends with us. To explain further, I start by identifying the problem and speaking up about it. Not only do I talk the talk, but I walk the walk and live what I tell you. Then you learn from me and do the same until we are spreading the word.

So here's the real solution. We need to stop taking what the Contitution says literally, word for word, and start looking at what it is implying. For example, even though there is no explicit list of responsibilities for the people in the Constitution doesn't mean we don't have responsibilities. Even though it never outright says that we have the freedom to make our own choices, it doesn't mean we don't have that. What is implied speaks louder than what is written, and that's what we need to focus our attention to. What is implied, or rather, the spirit of the law. To emphasize this point, the 10th Amendment even says 'any powers not delegated nor prohibited to the United States by the Constitution are reserved for the States, or respectively, the people.' This means that those previous two examples are there even though they aren't written. It means that healthcare is reserved for us - that the government doesn't have the right to choose that for us.

Well, I've done my part. Now it's time for you to do yours. Spread the word. Live the word. One day, the Constitution will stand stronger than ever, and on that day, we will go down in history. There is a vast majority of our people who are getting run over because of their silence. Don't be one of them.

It's funny. It's like this one bumper sticker says, 'Okay. Joke's over. Bring back the Constitution.' Do your part and I'll continue to do mine.

Death Penalty Essay

Do you agree or disagree with the death penalty? If you agree, why? If you disagree, what do you propose we do instead?

There has been much controversy over the topic of the death penalty. Should we have it? Should we not? No one can decide.

Currently, many people find the idea of capital punishment appalling. Many think it’s a miscarriage of justice. Some even say it “encourages a ‘culture of violence’ and violates human rights.” But what happens when the victim of such a heinous punishment is putting the public at large in danger? Do we put said criminal in prison for some time and when he’s done say “Okay. You’re free; just don’t torture any more people?” Do we put our trust in them only to find out that they never learned their lesson? What do we do when they come back to court for almost the same crime that they previously committed only a different person as the victim? This is where the death penalty comes in.

It’s not for ‘innocent people’, as some may claim are the victims. It’s for criminals who have committed a crime and have shown the signs of committing the same or a similar crime in the future. It’s for the criminal who puts the public in danger. It’s for the criminal who commits such a heinous crime, such as murder. While I will admit every individual is guaranteed what are known as man’s natural rights – Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness – we have a responsibility as the People of the United States to protect those rights, not just for ourselves, but for the other citizens surrounding us. That’s what our laws are for. When we break one of those laws, we infringe upon others rights, and in this case, we take away one of those natural rights. If the person committing such a crime were able to learn from prison time, I’d be fine with abolishing the death penalty. But our society isn’t always that way. There comes a time where we have to say enough is enough. Killing one person who would willingly kill many others is morally justified.

If that hasn’t persuaded you, let’s look at some other evidence. According to the Federal Bureau of Justice Statistics, the average cost of anesthetic for a death penalty is about $88.08. A Big Mac meal at McDonald’s costs $5.36. If we were to go based off of this price, the cost of food for one day would be approximately $16.08. For a week, that would be $112.56. Every week, it would cost around $25 to keep them living. But then you add on each additional week in a year, and the total grows exponentially. While there are more costs to capital punishment not accounted for in this situation, to keep them living would only cost each state more.

Morally, the death penalty is justified. It also costs less than Life without Parole. For these reasons, I approve of capital punishment.

This blog post is an official entry for the <a href="http://www.joshuapondlaw.com/scholarship">Law Blogger’s Scholarship</a>, sponsored by The Law Office of Joshua Pond, <a href="http://www.joshuapondlaw.com/">http://www.joshuapondlaw.com</a>.

Heads Up!!!

So I found this scholarship online that I've decided to apply for. I have to write an essay on the death penalty and post it on my blog....Just thought you'd know before randomly seeing it... :)

Inspiration

Well, everyone in my house was sick yesterday. I came home to find out my mom, little brother, and little sister had spent their day throwing up. So I became the maid of the house and took care of everyone. Sometimes, this would bother me, but everytime I end up thinking about how this is similar to motherhood and how it's preparing me to become a mother. By the end of the day, I was glad to have had the experience.

I started writing a song last night! I was thinking a lot about graduation and how everyone in my class is heading different ways. It's highly possible that we may never see each other again. As I thought about those, I had an idea for a song come along. I wrote it down as fast as I could. By the end of school today, I had a good portion of lyrics written. I just have to finish those, and then put music to it...that's the hard part. I had my mom read it (she also made me sing what I had for her!) and she really liked it. I think it may be one of my better songs so far!

Well, I have a big tournament tomorrow and I need to memorize my speech! Hope everything goes well!