sorry he’s sideways, I don’t know how to fix it 🙁

Hi! Grace here. I’m anxious, exhausted, and stressed out, but it’s time for another blog post. The picture you can see above is the life-sized skeleton we had in my yard for Halloween. It’s name is Skelly, and it’s like my favorite decoration ever. For communications this week, we were supposed to do 20 questions. Mine are divided into three parts. There are questions that are more about me, factual questions that I wanted to know the answers to, and political questions that are important to me. So, enjoy!

What music do you listen to if you’re stressed? Most often, Taylor Swift or U2. U2 is always really nostalgic for me because I listened to it a lot when I was younger. It reminds me of car rides and the days when I wasn’t so stressed. 

Would you rather live in a warm or cold climate? Cold climate, but it’s a difficult decision. I love snow.

How would you describe your style? I don’t really think I have a style. Some days I like to dress really feminine, others I’m in leggings and a hoodie. In quarantine, it’s been more of the latter.

What are your favorite Taylor Swift songs at the moment? It changes often, but right now I’d say it’s The Man, The Story Of Us, Delicate, So It Goes, and Speak Now.

Where would you like to go when we can travel again? If I was given the chance, I’d love to go to Japan. I love the culture and want to see things like cherry blossoms and Mount Fuji.

Who are your favorite Marvel characters? Since Captain Marvel was my first Marvel movie and the one that got me into Marvel, she’s probably my favorite character. Watching that movie makes me feel really empowered. Other than that, I love Black Widow, Iron Man, and Ant-Man.

What’s your favorite class? My favorite class is Spanish. I have a really good teacher, and I love the subject.

If you could ask yourself fifteen years from now anything, what would it be? I would be 29 in fifteen years. I think I would just ask myself “How are you?” It’s a pretty simple question, but one I wonder about a lot. Where I’ll be in the future. Unfortunately, it’s not one I have an answer to.

What’s your favorite season? I absolutely adore fall. I love Halloween, the autumn leaves changing colors, and the cool weather. My birthday is also in November, which is nice. I’m about to turn fourteen. 

When were worms on a string invented? 1958, and they were originally called Squirmles. That’s such a cute name! I’m going to call the worm on a string I keep on my desk a Squirmle from now on.

What’s a good show to watch if you’re bored? I’d suggest Brooklyn Nine Nine! It’s about a police precinct in Brooklyn. The show handles topics like homophobia, sexism, and racism gracefully, while still managing to be funny. It’s one of my favorite shows. 

Are bananas the only radioactive food? No! Brazil nuts, potatoes, red meat, avocados, beer, water, and peanut butter all have small amounts of radiation.

Why are sloths so slow? Moving slowly and having fur that camouflages them in the trees protects them from predators who detect their prey visually. It’s a survival tactic.

What does the longest word actually mean? The longest word in the English language refers to a lung disease contracted by inhaling particles from a volcano. It has 45 letters.

What are the most populated cities in the world? As of 2019, the top five most populated cities were Mexico City, São Paulo, Shanghai, Delhi, and Tokyo.

What are the most populated cities in the world? Is it likely we’re going back to school this year? The numbers are increasing. Two days ago, the United States topped 100,000 cases in one day. Someone contracts COVID-19 every second. And as winter comes around, the number of cases will continue to grow. Until Trump is out of office, at least, we won’t be put in another lockdown. It’s possible they try to bring us back to school in the second semester, however, I believe that’s irresponsible and dangerous. COVID-19 will continue to spread, and kids might bring it home to their more vulnerable family members. Online learning isn’t ideal, but it’s the safest option.

How disproportionate is the amount of black victims of police brutality compared to white victims of police brutality? Between 2013 and 2019, more than a thousand people died as a result of police brutality. About a third of them were black, more than any other group of people.

Why can a candidate lose the popular vote but win the Electoral College? It’s happened five times in history, most recently in 2016. I’m writing this before the election results come out, so I don’t know if it’s going to happen again. The popular vote is a total of which candidate gets the most votes. The Electoral College is a process that chooses “electors,” and each state gets as many electors as it has members of Congress. A candidate needs at least 270 electors to win the election. It is totally possible for one of the candidates to be less popular, but still win the necessary votes. However, I believe we can’t keep using this system, because we can’t have another politician who’s out of touch. Trump only won because of the electoral college. He’s a privileged white man who doesn’t have the interests of many of the people in the United States at heart, and is bent on oppressing them.

How can authority and obedience lead good people to do bad things? In 1963, Stanley Milgram, a Yale psychology professor, conducted an experiment. Over the next two years, hundreds of people participated. The volunteers would read strings of words to a partner, who was hooked up to an electric shock machine. If they repeated it wrong, the volunteer was to deliver an increasingly intense shock under the supervision of an authority figure. Some people were horrified and stopped the experiment early, defying their supervisors telling them to go on, but 65% of them continued up to 450 volts. That’s a lethal shock. It was only after the experiment that they learned the shocks weren’t real and the cries of pain were pre-recorded. They were ready to kill someone because they were told by someone in power that it was their job. This shows that ordinary people, under the direction of an authority figure, would obey just about any order they were given. This also shows the “some good cops” argument doesn’t matter. In a follow-up, the supervisor stepped away and was replaced by a civilian. The obedience rate dropped to 20%. But when participants were able to instruct someone else to give the shock, the rate increased to over 90%. History has shown that “good people” can do horrible things under the guise of following orders, obeying authority, and enacting it themselves. When following orders, cops do bad things. It doesn’t matter if they’re “good people.” The system is designed to disproportionately target black people, and people who are known to discriminate gravitate to positions where they have authority. We need to stop this cycle, reform the system, and defund the police. 

Let me know what you think, answer any of the questions, or give me a link to your blog in the comments so I can check it out. Have a good week! -Grace