Author: ewellayd000

Do People Value Flags?

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Do People Value Flags?

Everything you should know about Flags

By Ayden Ewell

Today flags are a big part of American culture, but how did this come to be? Why are Americans so obsessed with their 13 stripes and 50 stars? And do other countries share this trait?

A flag ripped down to its very core is a symbol on a stick. Usually, this symbol represents something but it doesn’t always have to. Today we use flags to represent a unified people such as the American flag representing that we Americans are united together as a country.

Flag History

I found it interesting that when I typed into google just broadly “Flag History” all I saw was the history of the American flag, the only other flag I found on the first page of Google was the Islamic flag’s history. To be honest, I couldn’t really find any other countries who treat the history of their flag so seriously, but what does this mean?

The oldest flag still here today is the one of Denmark. It’s called the Dannebrog and it goes back to the 13th century A.D. and was officially recognized as a national flag in 1625. The Dannebrog is red with a white Scandinavian cross The vertical part of the cross is shifted to the hoist side (the side closer to the pole). The flag was used as a civil flag and ensign, this means that the flag was purely to denote their nationality.

The Importance of Flags

When I looked to see if other ethnicities were as crazy for flags as Americans were, to my surprise they weren’t. After all those cool facts about their flag, a citizen of Denmark would only use it as a convenience to show people their nationality. However I think there is still more importance in flags, I see this in pirates.

Pirates are people who commit robbery or criminal violence via boat or sea typically with the goal of stealing cargo, these people are relevant because on their boats they would always fly a black flag. A “Jolly Roger” is the term used for a pirate flag flown to identify that the pirates were about to attack, basically rendering their flag as a symbol of terror. However, this flag didn’t really actually mean anything significant to the pirates.

What have we learned? Flags are just used for practical purposes. Sadly Americans are very weird in that they value their flag very highly. This doesn’t mean flags aren’t symbols and don’t mean something, they do it’s just that contrary to what I thought people normally don’t value their flags.

The Refugee’s Journey

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The Refugee’s Journey

The life of a refugee

Hardship, struggle, battle, this is the life of a refugee one who has to leave their country and move to another one. Wikipedia defines refugees as generally “A displaced person who has been forced to cross national boundaries and cannot return home safely.” 

The Struggles of the Refugee

Unlike a migrant or immigrant who goes to a country in mind of a pull factor a refugee goes to a country in mind of a push factor. What are push and pull factors? A push factor is something that happens where a person is living that encourages them to leave and a pull factor is something that happens in another place that encourages them to go live there. So when I talk about refugees I mean only those who have to leave due to a push factor: a danger or unfavorable event that happened in their country.

A refugee’s life is very tough considering that they were already pushed out of their home not only do they have to make a journey to a new place to call home but when they finally find a place they can call home, conditions might not be too great there as in there might not be job opportunities or open housing.

The first step of a refugee’s adventure is to leave. Sometimes this is extremely easy and sometimes this is the hardest part of the journey. A person planning to seek refuge in a different country might be able to just walk out, for example maybe their country’s problem is an economic crisis in most cases you would just be able to leave, however, if the problem is a dictator or gang or maybe a crisis piled with a superior power then the person might have a rough time, for example, it might be impossible to go back without being in danger if you leave a country under a dictator’s rule or it might be dangerous to leave a country with gangs without getting hurt.

The next step of the refugee’s journey is getting to the destination. Often this is the hardest part and often they don’t come out unscathed. The refugees might have to go across waters many have drowned in, they might have to walk in blizzards that many have frozen in, they might have to walk across deserts that many starve in, and they might have to walk in streets that take no sympathy to them. 

The final step of the refugee’s journey is the destination. The refugee might not even be given a refugee status and have to leave, the living conditions might not have been as promised, or there is nobody there to help them. Nevertheless, they have made it, the refugee has braved their journey however there’s more after the journey is the country accepting of this refugee being here?

The Host Country’s Struggles

When a country takes in refugees they are called a host country because they host people. When a country hosts refugees it creates Political, Environmental, Social, and Economic impacts. (ESPeN as in Economic,Social,Political, and eNvironmental which can be used to describe all impacts some occurrence might have on a country.) The word impact is always used with a negative connotation, however, the word impact actually has a denotation that means the effect in cause and effect so when I say impact I could mean a positive impact or a negative one.

Most people believe that refugees only bring negative impacts such as stealing jobs, taking housing, and deterring the government from actual problems. This is wrong. Refugees can bring positive impacts towards a country, it’s not often but it does happen.

Refugees can have negative impacts on a country. This means things that refugees do that hinder the country and make them unwelcome. A refugee may bring their sons and daughters over to the new country, this is fine until all the refugees decide their children need to go to school which could cause 3000 new people to attend school in a day, which is bad as there are most definitely not enough schools for the hosts and refugees so this is a problem. Refugees also may want to work to support their families back in their home country which can cause a lot of people fighting for jobs. Refugees need special government attention and gain help but that diverts the government’s attention away from more pressing issues.

Refugees can have positive impacts on a country. This means things that refugees do that help the country and make them welcome. Refugees usually get jobs whether those be labor or desk jobs refugees usually find jobs in a country without a lot of job openings this is bad however in a country with tons of job openings the refugees would actually help the economy of the country by working there.

In conclusion, refugees have a hard journey even after they get to their destination and sometimes might not even help the country they went to, being a refugee is hard so the next time you see one give them a pat on the back and congratulations for surviving their hard adventure.

Halloween 2020

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Halloween 2020

This year Halloween is going to be a bit complicated for trick-or-treaters across the United States, to say the least. The coronavirus is making trick or treaters a little hesitant as a fun activity might quickly turn dangerous.

The coronavirus has been a problem spanning across practically the entire year of 2020 and practically on every square inch of earth. The coronavirus is an illness that spreads extremely quickly through natural human interaction and has been plaguing us for a long time now. 

This means nothing but bad news for Halloween this year since Halloween is all about meeting new people and going door to door asking for candy. Since Halloween is all about human interaction and the coronavirus spreads through interaction and being around each other Halloween isn’t going to be like last year. 

What does this mean for Halloween? 

We’re going to have to be more careful as to not spread the coronavirus since it is so dangerous. The CDC or Center for Disease Control, a trusted organization made to stop disease spread, says ¨Many traditional Halloween activities can be high-risk for spreading viruses. There are several safer, alternative ways to participate in Halloween. If you may have COVID-19 or you may have been exposed to someone with COVID-19, you should not participate in in-person Halloween festivities and should not give out candy to trick-or-treaters.¨

Basically, this is saying that most of the ways you would normally spend Halloween would most definitely spread the virus in some way shape, or form. The quote is also saying that instead maybe try to do something else. The last sentence says that if you have, had, or have been around someone with coronavirus then try to do something that is not in person.

The CDC also states normal Halloween activities and their risk levels. Low Risk would include things that you can do at your home, such as carving pumpkins decorating your house, having a movie night, or making an online call. Medium Risk would include things that you can do in your backyard or front yard with a few friends, like a costume contest, exchanging candy bags that have been washed, or going to a forest or secluded place for your Halloween, however, these activities do turn into high risk if you do not social distance. Finally, high-risk activities include most traditional activities like trick-or-treating, going to a haunted house, and going to crowded parties. 

Now for the big question, what does this mean for Halloween? Practically all of the low-risk activities are fine, so this means you can do whatever you want with the people you live with. For the most part Medium risk activities are fine so you can invite a few friends over to your living space as long as you social distance or wear masks. You should at practically all costs avoid high-risk activities, it is a shame but trick-or-treating and haunted houses are off-limits if you wish to stay safe and make sure to not spread COVID-19.

In all for Halloween basically just stay home if you want to stay safe, of course, mine is not the final verdict and you are free to make your own decisions, just remember to social distance and wear a mask and whatever you’re doing have fun.

Trying something new at Home

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Trying something new at Home

The best foods to eat while you stay at home

By Ayden Ewell

Staying at home for the past few months has been a drag for all humans involved. It all started because of the coronavirus, people wanted to stay safe so now it’s taboo to go outside.

 

While staying at home can be boring, the part of it I’ve hated the most has been trying to get food. You can go grocery shopping but that will only earn you weird looks and perhaps a 2-week quarantine. You could have someone bring food to your front door but that gets costly and again they might bring you the virus. So all that’s left is using the food in your fridge to make something tasty. Easy right? I thought so too…

 

Now the first part of making some food is finding a recipe that you like, something that tastes good is easy to make and remember it has to be using stuff you could already find in your house. Well, that’s why I’m here to save you, readers, a bit of time.

 

I have four easy to make recipes that you could make using stuff in your kitchen!

 

First are the mac and cheese bacon cups. Personally, I’ve been eating macaroni and cheese all of my life so this one hits right at home. This recipe should take you about 3 hours and will yield 4 servings. You’ll need 2 packages of macaroni and cheese, ⅔ cup of milk, ⅔ cup of butter, 1 package of bacon, goat cheese, and sriracha.

 

To make it:

.https://spoonuniversity.com/recipe/macaroni-and-cheese-cupcakes

 

If you have ramen this one is something you need to try: Balsamic Goat Cheese Stuffed Ramen Bun Sliders. It’s a big name with even bigger taste. It will require a package of four bee burgers, 4 oz of goat cheese, 1 teaspoon of parsley, 1 teaspoon of garlic powder, 2 eggs, 1 package of ramen noodles, salt, black pepper, balsamic vinegar, and vegetable oil. It will take 50 minutes to yield 8 servings.

 

To make it:

https://spoonuniversity.com/recipe/how-to-turn-ramen-into-balsamic-goat-cheese-stuffed-sliders

 

Next is Pumpkin Chocolate chip bread, this one is delicious. It might be a bit trickier to get some of the ingredients and bake but it will be all worth it in the end. It will require 1 ¾ cups of all-purpose flour, 1 teaspoon of baking powder ½ teaspoon of baking soda, ½ teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice, ½ teaspoon of kosher salt, a stick of unsalted butter, 1 cup of canned pure pumpkin, ½ cup of granulated sugar, ¼ cup of packed brown sugar, 2 large eggs, 2 tablespoons of milk, 2 teaspoons of grated fresh ginger, 1 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract, and lastly, ½ cup plus 2 tablespoons of bittersweet chocolate chips.

 

To make it:

https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/food-recipes/easy/a33406715/pumpkin-chocolate-chip-bread-recipe/

 

Finally egg and avocado toast, It’s simple but it’ll get the job done in minutes. It will require ½ of an avocado, an egg, a slice of bread, a pinch of salt, a pinch of pepper, a pinch of chili pepper (optional), and lastly a ½ cup of water. This should at most take ten minutes to make.

 

To make it:

https://spoonuniversity.com/recipe/make-egg-avocado-toast-dorm-room

 

Fantastic! Now you have some unique food you can eat to spice up your dinner at home, I hope one of these recipes did the job for you if not, then check out spoonuniversity.com almost all the recipes I used on here came from that website so you might be able to find something you like there if you didn’t here, I have also listed conversions for measurements below this if you find that helpful.

 

tsp.=Teaspoons

tbsp.=Tablespoons

c.=cups

1 cup=48 teaspoons

1 cup=16 tablespoons

1 tablespoon=3 teaspoons

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