So you have that recipe you want to try out... but then comes the problem of getting permission to use the kitchen.
Well no fear, permission is easy to get if you follow these simple steps:
1- Orchestrate your kitchen use with your parents. In other words, double check that it's okay to use the kitchen.
2- Okay the recipe you're planning on making with your parents.
3- Make sure the recipe you want to make follows all necessary dietary restrictions.
4- Wash the counters you are planning on using before you use them.
5- Make sure the kitchen is clean enough to cook in before you begin.
6- Put ingredients back away as you finish using them.
7- Use minimal dishes for cooking.
8- Keep your mess confined.
9- Don't monopolize the kitchen.
10- Clean up all your mess when you're done. Wash the dishes you've used; wipe down the counters; put everything back away; make the kitchen better than it was when you first started cooking. A great time to do this is while the food is in the oven or on the stove or cooling.
11- Share what you make! Don't monopolize all the goodies.
Getting permission to use the kitchen may not come over night, but if you cook responsibly, it will come. Good luck!
It's really hard to find good healthy deserts that are still satisfying. It's even harder when you're family is dairy-free, and also trying to be processed-sugar free.
But after a lot of search, I found the most amazing, naturally sweetened, dairy free, whole wheat, peanut butter cookies EVER!
And even better, you can eat about 22 of them without feeling sick, if you use a small cookie scoop (1 tsp instead of 1tbsp). I should know; I tried it out.
Socialism -
That idea is getting more and more popular all the time. Perhaps one of the greatest proofs of this is how far Bernie Sanders got in the process of become an 'official' candidate for United States president. Or how people think that health care is a 'right.'
So what is socialism exactly? The popular definition is taking from the rich and giving to the poor. But that just the add for socialism.
When one tries to explain the pitfalls of how socialism won't work, it hasn't worked, and it never will work, people usually respond that it'll work "this time," or that it was just flawed execution. But that is not true. The execution is not flawed; it's the theory that is flawed.
Stripped down to it's most basic theology, socialism is the abolition of private ownership. And, as I briefly discussed in my post What Is Freedom?, private ownership is not just about your stuff, but about your body, your mind, your rights.
Allow me to further explain. In socialism, private ownership does not exist. Everything is owned by the government to use as they see fit. Sometimes this means giving to the poor (or rather, letting the poor borrow what ever it is until the government finds a better use for it); often times, this means usage by the government officials.
So say you own a really nice car. It was made just last year, has less than 1000 miles on it, incredibly gas efficient, all around great car. And then say that somehow, this nation that you live in becomes socialist. Well, that car isn't yours anymore. You're just 'borrowing' it until a government official comes along and says otherwise. Well, let's say that a government official comes along and says otherwise. And since he/she represents the government, they can do whatever they want with it. And let's say they decide they should get it, since their job involves driving around lots and their car stinks. Well, then that government official gets your car (of course, since this is socialism, they are only 'borrowing' it). But then say the President of your nation spots your car, and is like, "Wow, that is one great car! I think I need that!" Well, the president gets it, since the president is a higher ranking official than the one who originally took 'your' car. But the president only gets your car until a higher ranking government official comes along...
That is socialism, stripped down to it's barest theology. And it's not pretty. I mean, that was a very nice car!
But let's talk about some more aspects. Your car is a thing; and you own it. But you have private ownership over your body as well. And in socialism, private ownership isn't a thing. So the government can take your body-essentially, you- and do whatever it pleases with it. Medical experiments. Slave labour. Breeding an 'Aryan' (or whatever race your socialist government prefers) race.
What about your home? Or belongings? What about your freedom? Your education? Your lively hood? What about, if and when you are a parent, the ownership of parental rights?
Socialism is not about taking from the rich and giving to the poor. It's about the abolition of private ownership. And once you get down to that root, socialism is not pretty. It's downright disgusting.
A lot of people are somewhat confused as to what freedom means exactly. They are so caught up in the details of application in bureaucratic nations that they forget what it means.
Freedom can be defined as your right to do anything with your private property (this includes mind and body, as well as the things your own) as long as it does not hurt other people.
In fact, the only reason government is ever created by the people, is to protect their right to use their personal property without hurting others, and to make sure that other people/nations won't use their private property to hurt them.
For example, take the freedom of speech. I am free to speak as I please, as long as it does not hurt someone else. I cannot yell "fire" in a crowded theatre (unless there really was a fire) because there might be a stampede and someone could be killed. I can not use words to inspire people to murder, and so forth.
As another example, take the right to keep and bear arms. I may own and use a gun; the only thing is I can't go kill people with it, threaten people with it, or hurt people with it.
Freedom is really very simple, and it comes down to eleven words: freedom is the ability to use personal property without hurting others.
It's already been a week of doing this! And yes, I started Project Otulissa before I started my blog.
I've learned some really cool things! I've read three books in the fifteen book series so far (no, I'm not going in order): The Burning (book 6); The Rescue (book 3); and The Siege (book 4).
Here is what I've learned:
~Stand up for what is right; do it precisely and powerfully and you'll make an impact.
~Book learning isn't everything.
~Your value is about you, not the family you're born into.
~Know that we can learn and have fun at the same time.
~Know that you can learn from other people, even those with "less intelligence."
~Dare to stand up for truth.
~Do what you know is right despite your fears.
~We have to acknowledge reality - that life is more than books, simulations, and study - before we can really live up to our full potential.
~After you read something, you need to discuss it.
Wow, lots of good stuff!
So here is what I plan to do based on these lessons:
~Discuss what I read (blog posts like this one are a part of discussion).
~Spend less time in books, or, in other words, try harder to find the balance between life and academic stuff.
~Learn from anyone and everyone.
So yeah, this week has been great! I'm already preparing to check out my next three books (#2; #7; #8) for this next week's reading. And also... you should read this series, Guardians of Ga'Hoole by Kathryn Lasky. It has amazing lessons on leadership, duty, mentors, freedom, and mission.
Stress, lack of focus, and depression are all real problems in our society.
One way that I personally combat these is by rollerblading.
Rollerblading is really good for a few reasons.
First, the act of rollerblading forces your muscles to loosen. Did you know that emotions manifest physically? So when you experience stress, anger, frustration, or almost any other negative emotion, your body tenses. Rollerblading forces your body to loosen up, because if you don't loosen your shoulders, let your arms move, and lean forward, you're going to fall over.
Second, when you rollerblade, your arms swing around to help you stay balanced. They tend to cross over the centre of your body. This crossing the centre of your body actually is connecting the two sides of your brain, which helps you to focus and learn effectively.
Third, rollerblading is physical exercise. Physical exercise can help protect you from heart disease, high blood pressure, obesity, and more. But it also does something else. When you exercise and work up a sweat, your adrenaline gets going. The result is a natural "high" where you just feel so good.
So yeah, rollerblading is awesome! I like to rollerblade before my classes start, and sometimes in between them as well, if I have four or so in a row (I go to a blended learning charter school, so I have most of my classes online and at home). It really helps me stay upbeat and efficient doing hard school days.
~this article is not intended to be a cure for mental illnesses but the advice herein can be used as a supplement to other stuff~
So today's post is just really quick, but here it is. Hope you enjoy it
Family history is one of the coolest things ever.
Before you disagree, allow me to define it: family history means connecting to your family, both past and present.
The methods for doing this are various; spending time with family, getting to know your great-grandparents and/or your grandparents; researching information about past ancestors (AKA traditional family history); learning about the nations and cultures that your ancestors came from; keeping a journal; reading ancestor's journals; and so many more.
Family history is my favourite Sunday activity. It helps me feel like I'm part of something, like I belong somewhere and came from somewhere. It's just cool!
If you're ever bored in this corona world (or even after everything goes back to normal), you should try family history.
TJEd offers a phenomenal online convention once a year that is entirely dedicated to freedom. It's lasts a month long... (so it ended yesterday)
This year's convention has been so amazing, so empowering. Oliver DeMille discussed many things, including the state of freedom in the USA (not so good), the scenario matrix (a very liberating way of planning ahead), how to get real news, and more.
A little bit about the scenario matrix: so with CoViD19, I was kinda terrified and worrying about the future and what it would look like and everything. Well, then I listened to the workshop on the scenario matrix, and that all changed.
But what is the scenario matrix? Basically, you make a six year, two year, and one year plan for all possible outcomes. For example, there are two possible outcomes to this whole CoViD19 pandemic: it all blows over, few people die, and everyone is better off than ever before; or, it stays, it kills way more people than it has so far, it completely crashes our economy, and it totally changes the world. For each of those possible out comes, you create a six year plan, a two year plan to help you reach your six year plan, and a one year plan to help you reach your two year plan.
When I did that, I realized that I actually liked my total disaster six year plan way more than my back-to-normal plan. That was one of the most empowering and liberating realizations ever.
The 2020 Annual Freedom Convention was definitely worth the $50 per household fee. And I'm definitely doing it again next year
Culture begins in the home, and so do many problems in society. School shootings are not an exception.
Whenever there are shootings with fatalities, it sparks a wave of talk about gun control, school security, allowing teachers to keep guns at school, and other methods of prevention. While these things will stop some shootings, they will not help enough.
The factors and problems that can lead to a school shooting can be solved, reduced, or prevented in the home.
Offenders generally do not come from stable homes. Dr. Peter Langman showed that in one sample, 82% of the offenders were from dysfunctional families, while only 18% were from intact families1. Carolyn Moynihan of MercatorNet said that “almost all school shooters come from families where the parents are either divorced or alienated”2. Social scientist Bradford Wilcox also observed nearly all “involved a young man whose parents divorced or never married in the first place.3" Studies show that
within offender's families, there is often a lack of supervision, emotional closeness, and intimacy 4.
President Clinton said, “We're long past the question of whether culture makes an impact. Of course, it does. School shootings...are...symptoms of a culture that too often glorifies violence.5"
Among the topmost motives of offenders were: 76% were bullied/persecuted/threatened, 61% wanted revenge, while 54% reported having numerous reasons. The remaining motives had 34% attempting to solve a problem, 27% suffered from depression and were attempting suicide, and 24% were seeking attention or recognition6. Alienation and persecution also drove many of the offenders to violence7.
Studies have shown that factors behind School Shootings include family dysfunction and a lack of family supervision. These problems can be solved by the parents. “Children are entitled to birth within the bonds of matrimony, and to be reared by a father and a mother who honor marital vows with complete fidelity. . . . . .Fathers and mothers are obligated to help one another as equal partners.8" Parents have a duty to teach their children. When a parent teaches their child well (as outlined in The Family:
A Proclamation To The World), the child will know how to forgive those who have hurt them, thus doing away with the need for revenge. The child will also know that they will always be loved, even if they make mistakes.
When a child gets bullied at school, having a loving family to come home to can help them cope with the emotional hurt in a way that can help them forgive those who have hurt them. Having a loving family, a family that accepts a child, weaknesses and all, can help them feel of worth, which empowers them both as youth and adults to accept the past and find peace.
According to School Shooter: A Quick Reference Guide, one reason offenders did what they did was the wish for recognition and attention. Families can effectively solve this problem by creating an environment of unconditional love, acceptance, and approval, and by helping them develop their talents, giving the children another path to fame other than violence.
President Bill Clinton said of school shootings, “when over and over children see cinematic conflicts resolved not with words but with weapons, we shouldn't be surprised when children, from impulse or design, follow suit.9" A strong family unit will give children and youth opportunities to solve problems when differences of opinions arise. For example: parents and child may not agree on a curfew. Siblings and parents will like different TV shows/restaurants/games/etc. Having different opinions in the home
can teach a child/teen to use words to solve problems, not violence—if the parents use the teaching opportunities wisely.
Culture begins in the home, and so do the solutions to many problems in society, including school shootings.
“Around our kitchen tables, on our public airwaves, in our private thoughts, we [should] all [be] asking ourselves, what are the root causes of such youth violence?10"
School shootings are merely one of the symptoms of a culture that glorifies violence.
And what is the sickness that causes these symptoms? Weak families. Families are the fundamental unit of society11, so if we fix the family, then the culture will be fixed, society will be fixed, and school shooting will happen rarely, if ever.
Sources:
1 Peter Langman, Ph.D. “School Shooters: The Myth Of The Stable Home”
2 “Way Back Machine”. February 20, 2018
3 “Sons of divorce, school shooters”. Aei.org
4 Gerard, F.J.; Whitefield, K.C.; Porter, L.E.; Brown, K.D. (2015) “Offender and Offense Characteristics of School
Shooting Incidents”. Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender
5 President Bill Clinton, June 13, 1998, on the radio
6 School Shooter: A Quick Reference Guide. United States. Federal Bureau of Investigation National Center of Crime
Analysis (US)
7 Fein, R.A.; Vossekuil, B.; Borum, R.; Reddy, M.; Modzeleski, W. (May 2002)”Threat Assessments in Schools:A Guide
To Managing Threatening Situations and Creating Safe School Climates”. U. S. Department of Education and U. S.
Secret Service
8 The Family: A Proclamation to The World
9 President Bill Clinton, June 13, 1998, on the radio
10 President Bill Clinton, June 13, 1998, on the radio
I have decided to take reading to a whole new level.
As I was pondering these last few weeks (which, thanks to CoViD19, are full of ponder-time, AKA nothing to do) I realized that the book character I am most like is Otulissa from the Guardians of GaHoole series by Kathryn Lasky.
Why?
I wrote, “I am probably most like Otulissa from Guardians of Ga’Hoole. Super nerdy, way too good at bragging, always willing to share TMI, but with deep fears that she will fail, that she won’t be enough no matter how much she knows or how hard she studies.”
Okay, but what does that have to do with taking reading to a whole new level?
Well, here’s the answer. I am going to read all the books in the series that include her (for the bazillionth time), but this time, I am going to do it while taking notes on her challenges, her victories over her challenges, her mentors and how she learns, and anything else.
I have to tell you, over the series she really changes. Not a bad, ‘wow, is that even the same owl?’ change, but she is polished. It’s really cool to watch.
So basically, I am going to glean all the wisdom I can from her and use it to polish myself.
Of course, this is going to be a process, not an over-night transformation.
And, of course, I’ll keep you guys updated. I’ll put in a new post about this every week. But until the next article... *salve!
*Salve is Latin for “goodbye” and it’s pronounced SAHLL-wayh
Many people don't care about what is going on in the world today, and if they do care, they don't understand. And if they do understand, they probably aren't sure how to go about influencing what is happening today.
That needs to change if America's freedom is going to be restored.
My name is Liliana. I've been homeschooled up until 9th grade, and now I'm going to Leadership Academy of Utah.
I am passionate about many things, some of which include current events, the United States Constitution, good books, designing and sewing clothes for me and my 18" doll, debate, and having a clean room.
I am very excited to have this blog and be sharing anything and everything I'm interested in with you.
