"Walk up not walk out"

So in the wake of the Florida school shooting, a national walkout was scheduled for March 14, 2018, which was one month from shooting.

On social media, advocates were urging for students to:
WALK UP to the kid who sits ALONE and ask them to join your group.
WALK UP to the kid who never has a voluntary partner and offer to be theirs.
WALK UP to your teachers and thank them.
WALK UP to someone and just be nice.

While I do agree, to an extent that some good can come from being nicer to your fellow students and staff and not be a bully or disrespectful.

However, not every school shooter or mass shooter is a result of bullying. Adam Lanza, the shooter of Sandy Hook Elementary School, was on the Autism spectrum and his mother allowed guns in his house and him to have access.
Some of these other shooters have underlying mental illnesses.

So, yes, advocate for less bullying and disrespect BUT lets ALSO focus on mental illness and access to guns/gun control.

Nikolas Cruz, the Florida school shooter NOT ONLY had almost 18 calls to the FBI on him, because people were concerned for his posts and him "wanting to be a professional school shooter." He was able to walk into a gun store and EASILY buy an AR-15 EASIER THAN A HAND GUN.

WHY?

For all the 2nd amendment advocates and gun owners, NO I am not advocating to take your guns. I AM advocating to have people who have mental illnesses or are the subject of a restraining order or a convicted felon, should not have access to a gun of any kind. We should have nationwide comprehensive background checks.

I do support those that are protesting by walking out. I grew up and went to school in the "Post Columbine generation." We had lockdown drills preparing for an active school shooter/threat. In fact, on several occasions we were actually locked down because of bomb threats. That was just high school. When I went to college, we were locked down multiple times and heard gunfire often, and never could tell if it was on campus or not. A few students were even robbed at gunpoint. We need to lock our campuses down, especially the k-12th grade schools. Make sure no one can get into the building with ANY sort of weapon FOR ANY REASON (law enforcement and security personal aside). NO STUDENT SHOULD EVER GO TO SCHOOL AND BE AFRAID THAT THEY WON'T GO HOME AND NO PARENT SHOULD EVER FEAR THEIR CHILD(REN) WON'T COME HOME FROM SCHOOL.

What would you do if it was your kid? Would you want them safe and not afraid to go to school?

Florida School Shooting

The Valentine's Day shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida has left 17 dead and many others injured and traumatized.
The "salt in the wound" is that the FBI had the suspect on their radar due to threats made on his social media platforms, as well as pictures of his weapons on Instagram, and the FBI didn't do anything. There were 14 students and 3 faculty members that lost their lives on that day.

The suspect: Nikolas Cruz. He used a SEMIautomatic AR-15 rifle and even took an Uber to the school at around 2:20 pm. When he was done he fled with the rest of the students "to blend in and get away." He was subsequently caught about an hour after the shooting, according to a New York Times article.

The article states "After leaving the school, Mr. Cruz walked to a Walmart, and bought a drink at a Subway. He also stopped at a McDonald’s. He was arrested by the police without incident as he walked down a residential street at 3:41 p.m."

The article goes on to say "The F.B.I. said on Thursday it received information last year about a comment made on a YouTube channel which has been attributed to the gunman, but was unable to identify the person. In Florida, an AR-15 is easier to buy than a handgun."

Some articles state that Nikolas Cruz blamed some of his past behavior and depression on the death of his parents and the fact he was living with another family.

"The family that took him in, the Sneads, had seen signs of depression in Mr. Cruz, but nothing indicated that he was capable of this kind of violence, Jim Lewis, the family’s attorney, said. The family had allowed Mr. Cruz to bring his gun with him to their house, insisting that he keep it in a lockbox.
Mr. Lewis had encouraged Mr. Cruz to attend adult education courses, work toward his G.E.D., and take a job at a local Dollar Tree store, he said in a brief interview. The Sneads’ son, a junior, knew Mr. Cruz from Stoneman Douglas High.
On Wednesday, Mr. Cruz and the Sneads’ son were texting until 2:18 p.m., Mr. Lewis said — about five minutes before the first 911 calls about the shooting. “But there was nothing crazy in the texts,” Mr. Lewis said.""

(The New York Times article can be found here: Florida School Shooting)

Now that 11 days have passed since the tragic shooting, students are calling for a change in the country for gun control. Since there have been dozens of mass shootings in the United States alone since the Columbine school shooting. Some include: Pulse Night Club in Orlando, Virginia Tech and Sandy Hook Elementary School, just to name a few.

Many want to disregard what the young people have to say about new gun control "since they were the generation that was eating tide pods" or "it won't stop a criminal from finding a way, since they don't follow laws." But my question is where does it stop? We need to address gun control AND mental health. Adam Lanza, the one responsible for the Sandy Hook School shooting, KILLING ELEMENTARY SCHOOL KIDS, the guns legally belonged to his family. He was on the spectrum for Autism. Nikolas Cruz LEGALLY bought his gun AND buying the AR-15 WAS EASIER TO BUY THAN A HANDGUN under Florida law.
No student should go to school in fear that they may never come home.


These are some of the scared messages parents and loved ones get. Imagine if it was your child, your sibling or your parents in that building? Wouldn't you want change to save one more family from going through this?

Tensions with North Korea grow

President Donald J. Trumps’ comments both on and off Twitter have sparked new and heightened tensions with North Korea.

But what’s next? War?

War is always a scary thought, especially when nuclear war is on the line. And for the last few months, North Korea not only has been testing nuclear weapons and missiles, but they have been “bragging” how their missiles can reach the United States.

However, the USA did “show some muscle” and flew close to North Korea.

North Korea hasn’t expressed interest in talks with the USA to de-escalate the situation in the past. However, a new report released by CBS on 1/6/2018, President Donald J. Trump is open to speaking to North Korea. This is after boasting on both sides that they “have the nuclear buttons sitting on their desk, that they can use any time.”

(You can read more about that here: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/trump-says-he-s-open-talking-north-korea-s-kim-n835291).

Nodong, Musudan, and two different Hwasongs. These are the missiles North Korea has tested and that function, according to a BBC article. According to the same article, North Korea has two under development, a KN-14 and a KN-08.

Now what kind of damage could they do?

According to the BBC article “In May 2017, North Korea test fired a Hwasong 12 missile, which analysts believe could have a range of up to 4,500km, putting US military bases on the Pacific island of Guam well within in striking distance.

But two tests in July of the Hwasong-14 missile demonstrated even greater potential, possibly giving North Korea its first truly intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).

Analysts believe this missile could be a two-stage version of the Hwasong-12. Initial estimates suggested a range of about 8,000km, but later studies suggested that it could travel as far as 10,000km if fired on a maximising trajectory, allowing it to potentially hit New York.

In August 2017 the second missile test of the Hwasong 12 travelled over Japan, the first time a ballistic missile has flown over the territory and was described as an "unprecedented threat".

This was repeated on 15 September with a missile that flew a greater distance and reached a higher altitude than the August test, demonstrating an improvement in range for the missile.

Then came the Hwasong 15 test on 29 November, which saw a missile fired to an estimated altitude of 4,500km above the Earth.

Experts suggest that this missile, if fired on a more conventional lower trajectory, could have a maximum range of some 13,000km, putting all of the continental United States in North Korea's sights.”

(You can read those articles here: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-41356973 http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-41174689)

Personally speaking, I think that we will end up in war with North Korea, tensions have been building between the USA and North Korea and North Korea and other nations since before President Trump took office. Then President Trump sparks up more tension with his rhetoric, to the media and on Twitter.