Gun Violence: What do I care about it?

One random day of my workplace, my coworker was talking to someone. Then he told me, it was his wife. She was in Walmart for grocery shopping. He said: "She saw a man with a big package and was hiding something in the back of his back. She thought it was .. you know, so she left, went home, and just called me."
It was just a random story on a random day, it was not supposed to mean anything. But it's making me feel...weird. Because on the other day, I was doing exactly what she did. We were scared because we heard the news, that this "thing" happens everywhere in the country, and there is a chance it will happen to us. So what was that? Mass shootings, school shootings, gun violence. It was all over the news.
So let do some math:
- On November 17, the 321st day of the year, there have been 369 mass shootings in the U.S., according to data from the nonprofit Gun Violence Archive (GVA). 369 mass shootings/321 day =  1.15 shooting per day.
- According to CNN, in 46 weeks this year, there have been 45 school shootings. This is nearly an average of one school shooting a week. From elementary, middle and high schools to college and university campuses.
Every day you walk out of the house, wonder where is the next target. No matter you are at school, at work, or in your own house.
One of the most divisive issues in American politics nowadays is gun control. Gun violence happens every day, not just a movie's scene anymore. To anyone, to any place. Some people may say, owned a gun make them feel safer but due to the study, guns are rarely used in self-defense. Do you know what will make me feel safer? That I know every day I walk out my door, I know that no one will able to shoot me, because they don't and they can't own a gun. And how can we do that if all we do is restricted the ownership but not banned the gun itself?
So let me tell you what I think, cause this is my blog, and this is my opinion. Ban gun, all of them. Not just one or two, but maybe, you know, all of them.
What about restricted laws? Background check, legal age, restricted conditions? The stricter the better, you don't need to ban it. Well, let's take a look at Mexico. According to theguardian.com, Mexico has some of the strictest gun control laws in the world and yet, in 2012, Mexico had 11,309 gun murders (9.97 gun homicides per 100,000 people) compared to the United States that had 9,146 gun homicides (2.97 per 100,000 people.) Yet this is another proof that gun-control will not work. What we should do is ban guns, in any case, not just try to take control of it.
What we need is not a gun to protect ourselves, it is a better environment where is no gun, and no weapon could threaten our life.

Impeachment and Hoodie

This post is in response to my classmate's post in the "U.S. Government." So, President Trump's impeachment, "OK Boomer" hoodie and generation war
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It is a very interesting point of view, and how he connected the President's Trump Impeachment and "OK Boomer," also brings up the generation war. I agree that this impeachment and the pre-consequence of it already start the fire between Baby Boomer generation and millennials generation. I honestly think it's not really a problem since Trump is continuously showing us that he unable to fulfill his duty, and may I say, he could be the noisiest president on Twitter, ever. Also, "generation war" is the war that will happen between every generation in many forms. I can say we all are trying to fight for our benefits, which is fair I guess. I'm with Vinh that there might be a negative sign for the future generation to be happy since we don't actually know what happens after President Trump being impeached, or furthermore, remove from the office. We cannot ensure that the new President will not fail us again, so it will kind of lose-lose battle that we have to fight.

Check out his work here: https://vinhyang.blogspot.com/2019/11/blog-5-impeachment-boomer-movement.html#comment-form

Keep Austin Not "That" Weird!

Is it weird to say that we are just hit the end of 2019's summer at the end of October since this morning, I woke myself up during 31ºF and almost freeze myself to sleep again. People say, "Keep Austin Weird!" I am not so sure myself this is weird we are talking about. So what causes our summer-fall this year?

Climate change, obviously. What can you say about climate change except for the fact that it's making the Earth hotter than ever? I confess that I thought it would not be this fast. It's going to happen with our future generation, but I was SO wrong. Earth's climate is changing faster than any future predictions. It poses a significant threat to not just the planet but its citizens. The impacts of global climate change are already being felt in the United States in general and Texas in particular; and are projected to increase in the future.

Some studies are showing that Texas will experience the worst effects of climate change. According to States at Risk, Texas is home to 9 of the hottest cities in the U.S. We are currently facing the worst threat from widespread summer drought among the lower 48 states. By 2050, the state is predicted to see an increase of approximately 75 percent. The heat will lead our state to increase the mosquitoes season growing longer, more danger day over 105 ºF (from 60 days in this year to over 115 days in 2050), a severe health hazard due to the increase of ozone air pollution. 

In one study, Solomon Hsiang, professor of public policy at the University of California, Berkeley, says, “We are really sure the South is going to get hammered. The South is really, really negatively affected by climate change, much more so than the North. That wasn’t something we were expecting going in.”

Well, now, here we are. Our situation is on the way reaching the point that we can not save our environment anymore. It's happening. But it's not too late. You may say, one person like me can not do anything. We are not a superhero, so, yea, you are right! But you are also wrong. There are so many ignorances out there, and one by one, they make a significant impact in our world. Why not do the opposite. You don't have to do anything big like flying around and save the world; you just have to influence others little by little, switching our behaviors and helping others to understand our situation with mother nature. 

The severity of future impacts of global climate will depend mostly on actions taken to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to adapt to the changes that will occur. Communities, governments, and businesses everywhere are working on it. So take action. Now. You can keep Austin weird as much as you want, but the global climate is another story. 

Here are some local organizations if you don't know where to start: https://www.austintexas.gov/climate 

http://350-austin.org/ (350 Austin - Acting Locally in the Global Climate Movement) 

https://austineconetwork.com/climate-action/ ( Austin EcoNetwork)