“If it’s meant to be, it will be.” These words are ones I often hear, and while I think they are meant to be comforting, they make me kind of angry.
I write to you today, dear reader, with a message that is as everlasting as Twinkies and as cliche as a joke about the shelf life of Twinkies. My message to you is to be grateful for what you have. This may all be banal in nature, but the sagacity behind this idea should never be missed.
Two major issues have been dominating our national politics, health care reform and the Russian investigation. This is, to put it mildly, stupid.
I write a column every week, and many of these weeks, I have a hard time picking a topic. Sometimes topics just come to me, but often, they don’t. To remedy this, sometimes I search Google for topics. Sometimes I take the advice of a fellow columnist and Google search, “What are Americans angry about today?” I did that this week, and I was greeted by a slew of articles about why Americans are so angry. There was nothing too specific that day, but essentially, a bunch of news outlets wrote pieces about why Americans are so angry about many different things.
A US-India alliance could be key for the US to remain a global superpower
Democrats have been criticized from within their own ranks for focusing on the issue of Russian interference in the 2016 election when an economic message could be more effective against Republicans, who are in the middle of pushing an extremely unpopular health care bill through Congress. In his testimony to the Senate Intelligence Committee earlier last month, former FBI Director James Comey insisted that all Americans should be concerned about the prospect of a foreign power influencing the outcome of a Democratic election. He told the committee, “It’s not about Republicans or Democrats. They’re coming after America, which I hope we all love equally. They want to undermine our credibility in the face of the world.”
I recall a conversation I had with my dad in which he reflected on his experience in school as a child. He vividly remembers the school administration in the early 1960’s conducting drills in which he and his classmates would practice crouching down under their desks in the event of a nuclear blast.
As I drove back to Gainesville after about two months filled with travel and relaxation, I came to a horrific realization.
Last Tuesday, Republican Karen Handel defeated Democrat Jon Ossoff in the most expensive congressional race in U.S. history. The special election filled the vacancy left by current Secretary of Health and Human Services Tom Price in Georgia’s 6th congressional district, located just outside of Atlanta. Newt Gingrich took the 6th district in 1979, and it has been held by Republicans comfortably since. However, since President Donald Trump won the district by a close margin of only two percentage points in 2016, Democrats saw an opportunity to try to flip it.
Recently, I started working as a server for a new company. I have never worked in the restaurant business before. That is to say, I have no prior experience serving, bussing, cooking or hosting. My only experience in the industry is the many times I’ve been a customer.
If 2016 was the year of realizing things, then 2017 is the year of trying things.
Former FBI Director James Comey testified before the Senate Intelligence Committee last Thursday regarding possible obstruction of justice by President Donald Trump in the FBI’s investigation of collusion between his campaign and the Russian government. Trump’s political opponents desperately hoped Comey would show that Trump’s behavior provided grounds for impeachment. While Comey’s words showed he did not trust the president and believed the president wanted to dismiss the investigation of Michael Flynn, a former national security advisor, I believe it yielded nothing incriminating. In fact, I think it did more to clear Trump’s name.
Last week I wrote about my renting experience with Watson Realty Corp. In my column, there were some misrepresented facts: after Sharon Giddens left the company on good terms — for she was not fired, nor did she quit — one of my roommates stayed in contact with another person from Watson Realty. I, however, was left in the dark for the period of three months. This was not Watson Realty’s fault. Though our relationship was not ideal, Watson Realty does not deserve the disservice of falsity. My sincerest apologies.
Sometimes people fail to recognize that when it comes to heritage and being part of a new generation, there is the median of people who represent both and should be given the availability to express and acknowledge it.
President Donald Trump withdrew from the Paris climate agreement last week in a move that set the U.S. apart from nearly every country in the world. The left responded with its usual rage and hysteria. Fareed Zakaria declared that the withdrawal was “the single most irresponsible act that this president has taken” and that “the United States resigned as the leader of the free world.” Many others echoed his claims. Statements like these mirror the left’s typical hyperbole when any political move doesn’t reflect the liberal agenda, especially on the ever sensitive issue of climate change.
I’d like to preface this by saying that by no means am I attacking Watson Realty Corp. I am merely recalling events and experiences with Watson Realty that my roommates and I had throughout our 15-month contract. I have attempted to avoid as much hyperbole as I can, so the facts in this column may remain facts, regardless of storytelling.
President Donald Trump took his first trip abroad last week and gave his first international speech in front of a coalition of more than 50 Muslim-majority countries in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Many Americans voiced concern about how Trump would be received abroad, especially in the Middle East, because of his notoriously harsh campaign rhetoric. The warm reception for his speech should alleviate those concerns. Overall, the speech sent a clear message to these countries — and the world — that the foreign policy of the U.S. is going to be entirely different than it was under former President Barack Obama.
History is written into our education, and it cannot be erased — I’m looking at you, “Old Joe” supporters. White privilege is taught, and that’s not just in the U.S. I’m half white — my mother is the last generation in her Portuguese family. But racists, white supremacists or really any other person who doesn’t ask wouldn’t know that. I wear my colors proudly, and I have consequently been taught from birth that this skin color defines me.
Before I get into the column, there are two things I must preface: One, I’m writing this column two days in advance, so things may develop that I cannot predict; and two, I am by no means well-practiced in law. I merely did some research to satisfy my inquiries.
I don’t mean to say the sayings included in this article are things that female, nonbinary or trans people have never said, but I think it’s important to identify the condescending language that men use to establish masculinity. “Masculine” and “feminine” are two words that have become problematic in the gender spectrum, but I’ll tackle that issue in another 600 words or so. For now, I’ll discuss the type of behavior that makes some cisgender, heterosexual men feel stronger in this incredibly heteronormative world. Behold: mansplaining.
Solutions by The State News
