Life of a 12 year old- Coronavirus Lockdown- Part 49

So, there was one specific piece of news that has stuck out and is recent news. There is this man, George Floyd, and he um, he was murdered by a police officer who had pinned him down on the ground, with his knee to George Floyd’s neck. Even while George Floyd was saying that he couldn’t breathe, the officer continued to pin him down and actually killed him. This particular topic is going to be a long one as it includes quite a lot of information and research, so that is why I am going to talk about one part of this topic, and that is the killing. Now, what picture is on the news is one that is taken from a witness who was videoing, and usually, videos aren’t the full story or details about something. Witnesses only see what has happened then, so that could mean that the witnesses had sawn only the officer pining George Floyd down. They might have not seen what might have really happened. But, this is what happened according to the news. From The Denver Post, people have been outraged and are protesting on his death. I am not entirely sure on what George Floyd was doing that made the officers handcuff and pin him. But, I do know that the people of Minnesota, the state where George Floyd lived and was killed, have gone as far as looting, breaking into stores, raiding, riots, and even police stations and other buildings were burned or torched to the ground according to CNN, and NBC NEWS. Now, I understand why everyone is extremely upset and wants justice for this act. because, even though George Floyd was saying he can’t breathe, the officers continued pinning him down. Yes, that was very wrong, but think of this. Maybe thousands of cops are shot each year by criminals or people who are breaking the law and these innocent officers are doing their own job. Maybe Mr. Floyd was threatening to do that or not allowing arrest, and that caused the officers to calmly do their jobs that they would have done if this were to happen. But, this brings us to the point, pinning someone down on their neck, and not moving the knee or pinning object to some other place when the victim is repeatedly pleading and saying that they can’t breathe and letting them die, is NOT THE BEST ACTION AND NOT OKAY. IT IS VERY WRONG AND THE WORST WAY TO PIN SOMEONE. 

Okay, so we have finished part one of this. The next part relates to maybe the reason why Mr. Floyd was arrested. I hope everyone has a Fabulous Friday and a lovely weekend!!!!! 

Life of 12 year old- Coronavirus Lockdown- Part 48

Hello everyone! We’re back with another blog and we’re actually going to go back to the past and talk further about the deficit. The same deficit mentioned in my blog on National Debt. I was actually supposed to write on this topic further yesterday, but I had my hands full so today is Deficit day! So, right now during this time, the U.S, debt right now. I am not entirely sure why because we are in quarantine mode. So, we should have been at least cutting down on the spending of traveling, maybe some on schools- because no one is going to school right now, and even in the military. Even without quarantine, military spending is a lot. They should cut down because, well, the U.S. is doing amazing and high with military and supplies. That will lowermost of the debt. This all relates to the deficit a lot. If you have less money than your expenses, you should spend less. This is exactly what I’ve mentioned here. Let’s say your expenses are $600 but you only get paid $500. You should cut down on spending a lot of thongs, like buy clothes or decorative items rarely and only when you need it. Maybe start walking to work to save on gasoline. Don’t buy too many items-food items- and buy the least expensive things. These can help you save A LOT and maybe you might even have a little more money at the end. Also, if you earn less than you can spend, then maybe look for another job. Get a degree in something else and graduate so you can get a new job and earn more. That way you’ll have enough money to spend and not have to spend less. You’ll have a better life. So, I guess that’s all I have to say about this. I believe that this will actually help everyone’s lives. If people earn less than they spend, I advise them to get out there and get another degree, and do the very best they can to become better, live better, and earn better. 

Life of 12 year old- Coronavirus Lockdown- Part 47

Helloo!!!!!! Guess what??!!!!! There was a snake in our garden. Not just any snake, a rat snake, a Texas rat snake. Wow! Sat first I actually thought it was a rattlesnake, because of the pattern, but there was no rattle, so it is apparently a rat snake. It was pretty adorable but incredibly long. Maybe a foot or around a foot. There will be pictures at the end. Anyway, yesterday dad gave me this puzzle. I had asked him for a new iPad and he gave me the puzzle on it. If I can find out an option C, to not lose any money myself but have all control over the new iPad, he’ll buy it in one day. So, I am currently in the process of trying to understand this cryptic code. Sooo much math. He says that the concept is confusing and challenging, but the math is very simple. I’ve just got to solve everything to check the answers and understand all the numbers. The answer is in the puzzle- somewhere. Also, We’ve almost finished our daily crossword!!! We were soo close!!! Only a few letters and we would have completed it. I’m not sure if there are more but I hope we can complete the whole thing soon. Anyway, I should go work on my math puzzle. See you later.

Life of 12 year old- Coronavirus Lockdown- Part 46

Helloooo!!!!!!!!!!!! So I have a bit of work to do so this blog will be incredibly short. So, Mumma is starting my Summer job of grading papers for Kumon. I am grading right now so I need to write this really quick. Mumma is giving me $12 for the packet si am grading. I decided the price without actually knowing that I could have charged higher with her being okay with it. the best part is that whatever I earn will go into buying a new iPad for myself. My recent one is glitching a bit so I want a new one, and my parents have agreed!!!!! Yaay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I want just a simple one, not one that is all that fancy, but dad is saying or hinting that I can get the new one- the computer iPad one. ( At least that’s what I think he was saying) He wants to share the iPad with me, though I am not that sure I want to, to be very honest. Plus, I found out how I can get the newer update s for Minecraft. There is a digital game for it, so I want to see if I can get it. I think it is free. I just need to see if it is available. Anyway, I got to go. I’ve got to go and keep grading. Bye!

Life of 12 year old- Coronavirus Lockdown- Part 45

Hello!!!!!!!! Today is the very first day of my Summer!!!!!!!! Sadly, the first day of summer is rainy. It has been pouring all day. Secondly, at this time, if there was no Coronavirus, then I would be in India right now with my family and having so much fun. I have not seen them in such a long time- maybe 4-5 years, and I have been looking forward to visiting them. Plus, it would be a family trip, so me and my parents. Usually its always just my parents who went so I really had the opportunity to see them!!!! Well, I guess there is next year. One more year isn’t a big deal. Moving on. I’m not really sure about what to write about. I mean, I could write about something random and probably say that this was my best non-mediocre work. Nah. I’ll talk about my new News Subscription. So, dad signed up for the newspaper to come. Now it comes every day, and I am soo excited. I’ve always seen them in like movies or cartoons, but I’ve never really touched or read one. Just a digital article. Plus, they come with comics and puzzles. Me and dad did a word puzzle today, and we got sooo close!!! We almost finished it but the last corner was just unsolvable. We didn’t want to look anything up- because that would be cheating- so it’s just blank. There will be a picture of the puzzle at the end. So, next thing. It’s Summer. And during the summers a lot of people do some cool summer project. Last year I did some art crafts, and the year before that I sold lemonade to raise some money for my friend who has leukemia. Now, I’m not really sure what to do. I mean, my gardening project could be my Summer project. But, that doesn’t sound like the best Summer project. I mean, I really don’t think that is the best project if it’s going to rain. On the FIRST day of Summer!!!! You know, kids usually love summer because there isn’t school, but right now, I’m really tired and I really want to go back to school. Because, A, the last time I went to school and had interaction was before spring break, almost 4 months ago, B, going back means that I can maybe go to India in the next summer without much social distancing, and C, I start 7th Grade!!!!! Hooray!!!!!!!  I guess that’s a story about me and school grades and age for another time. Anyway, I should finish up. Bye!  

Life of 12 year old- Coronavirus lockdown- Part 44

Today is May 24th my fellow home staying friends. Today’s topic is on National Debt. However, it will be on the U.S. National Debt. Before we start, my link sources are right here. -> Debtclock and Investopedia– National Debt, and Investopedia– Budget Deficit.

What is National Debt? National Debt is how much money the U.S.( for the U.S. National Debt) or a country owes its creditors or people to whom money is owed to. It is also rising, as you can see from the Debt Clock. ( You may have to click on the reverse button to go to the year 2020, it was linked to the year 2024) When the government pays back, it usually is with tax revenues, not GDP. The Treasury products finance the deficit by borrowing form investors. The investors can be both foreign and domestic. Before you complain about how the Government is just taking your hard-earned money, listen, or understand this. The Government needs the money to help you, us, everyone. $1.3 trillion totaled is spent on Medicare and health care problems. $1.1 trillion is spent on Social Security and Disability Pensions. Military related spending ( or Defense Budget) is $746 billion. And then there is Miscellaneous, which is for public schools, traveling and such. 
Now, I mentioned deficit when talking about Treasury for National Debt. Deficit is when the amount of something, especially a sum of money, is too small. Quoting from Investopedia- Budget Deficit,  “A budget deficit occurs when expenses exceed revenue and indicate the financial health of a country. The government generally uses the term budget deficit when referring to spending rather than businesses or individuals.” To be very honest and incredibly clear, I only understood the smallest part of that. I wanted to state it to give a better understanding. ( Actually, in my notes I hadn’t added this so it’s new and not fully researched- the quote that I stated.) This is what I wrote to help me understand. The budget deficit is when the expenses exceed revenue and indicate the financial health of a country. Revenue is the income from normal business operations. 

( Please note that by the time my blog is published, the numbers will be passed. And that I wrote my notes on Friday so the numbers have changed) Our National Debt for 2020, as of Friday from when I wrote my notes, was $25,370,618,367,562. Remember, the National debt is always rising, so right now it is much much past that. In 2024, it will be $44, 147,937,545,691. Next, I will be giving the numbers for the debt per citizen and debt per taxpayer. So, those mean different things. Yes, the taxpayers are also citizens, but the two are different. Remember my blog on the saving people process. Like who earns more and will in the future? Well, that’s the same thing. Here, the taxpayers are the people who are earning, who are earning to pay off taxes, and just earn in general. The citizens are the young kids or elders who cannot earn for themselves yet or anymore. ( I don’t think the number for this has changed) For debt per citizen in 2020, the number is $76,945, and in 2024 it is $128,651. For debt per taxpayer in 2020, it is $204,357. In 2024, it will be $328,402. 

So, that is all about NAtional Debt- and some parts of deficit. To be very honest, I didn’t have as much understanding and grasp on this like I did on Friday. I know that National Debt is very important, like taxes, so that it can buy supplies for our Medical care and Social Security. It helps pay for a lot of things that will always benefit us. One question though, will we ever finish paying off the expenses- debt? Will it ever reach 0- even though I literally stated that it always rises? 

Life of 12 year old- Coronavirus Lockdown- Part 43

Today is the day of the Heroes Act, Cares act, and the jobless claims. Let’s start with jobless claims. A lot of the claims are from plane jobs, our tour jobs. because nobody is traveling anymore, the flight attendants, pilots, companies who supply the airplanes- build them, supply food, blankets, earphone, etc.- lose their jobs. Not to forget about airport workers, people who work at airports. These include custodians, people who sell food at the airports, people who load the luggage, people who check you onto your flight, and more. If people aren’t traveling, tourist destinations also lose workers. Tour guides, security guards- for places such as the Mona Lisa, or maybe they are still working- food vendors, etc. People are also not going to any games. Ticket sellers lose jobs. Food vendors, some people who support the teams may also lose their jobs because fewer people are paying to come to see the games. Restaurant workers also lose their jobs. If nobody is going to sit in the restaurant then what are waitresses and waiters going to do, cashiers, cleaners, chefs? Some restraints may be open, but there may be very few people working. This picture represents the number of jobless claims in the 50 U.S. states. You can see that there are a few states with 30k and Utah is the only state with up to 5 ( Per 100K). 

Moving onto the Heroes and Cares act. The Heroes act is so beneficial. I had no idea about how much went into this bill. I found the full bill right here, and it is amazingly long. There are Divisions up to N, and that is in alphabetical order. So, A,B,C, etc. The different divisions are dedicated to one topic each. Ex: One division is all about Medical care, and the next is on agriculture and food. This is such a huge and amazing package, that I am sure will help thousands or hundreds of thousands of Americans. Though, there is some news about how this may not get through the Republican-controlled Senate. The act will be voted on May 25th. The Senate Republican representatives have dismissed the package as a non-starter. What does that mean? Does that mean that it won’t be helpful? Though they do not like the HEROES act, they want to release a Cares Act 2. It is very similar to the original, but, “… could see Americans sent $2,000…”.  I cannot wait until the 25th. I really hope that the package is signed in approval. Then, we come to the Cares act. 
So, in the Cares act, immigrants wouldn’t get the $1,200 payment that everyone else got. However, this is all changed in the Heroes act. They will get, “…receive $1,200 ( $2,400 in the case of a joint return) plus another $1,200 for every other dependant with a maximum of $3,600 and immigrants would retroactively receive the $1,200 payment they were denied under the Cares act…”. This was from this link. The same article says that there will be no changes to the original act for people who earn over $75,000. It also says that it reduces by 5% above the amount of the stimulus check. I have no clue about what they are reduced by 5%, but I think it may be about the payment- if there is some payment. Though these two packages are very different, they have been made for only one goal in mind. To help the Americans during this time. Because of the pandemic people are losing jobs. People are getting ill. They are dying. They have set aside billions or millions of dollars for specific parts to help those in need. For food, nutrition, healthcare, safety, etc. These are set for those who have lost jobs, lost money, businesses who have lost money, workers, everyone. 
I feel that the government is trying their hardest with all the power they have to help us in this time of need. If they have sent out one package with almost $2 trillion dollars for us, and are trying to pass another with 
more assistance and provisions then, I know they are really trying to help us no matter what. 

Life of a 12 year old- Coronavirus Lockdown – Part 42

Hello!!! Today is May 21st, and sadly, not audition result day. It is the day before the results. I read the email wrong, so it is actually coming out on the 22nd of May, at 12:00 p.m. Sooo, yeah. Sorry about that. You know, I start writing pretty late, which I shouldn’t do. This gives me less time ad then my work comes out like it was written by an 8-year-old. No offense. So, here is my news. I really need to finish before 6:30, so I am going to write more about the Cares and Heroes act on Friday- tomorrow. I actually made a mistake when writing because I understood the acts wrong. I need to clear that up and write more on the job losses I said I would research more on that and I haven’t gotten to that yet. Hopefully, with a large amount of my time on Friday or possibly Sunday I can write so much more than what I have been writing. Also, I wanted to pin down a few photos of my plants that I have been endlessly mentioning. The photos will be down below at the end of this post. Today I just want to write about some thoughts going on. So, teenagers are usually wanting to do everything themselves, feel independent and don’t care about what their parents say. I really really hope that I don’t become like that one day. Anyway, I started realizing how much some teens really are ignorant of COVID- 19. Yesterday, when I was going to the center with Mumma, I saw three teens hanging out in the back of a truck. The car was parked, and they were so carefree, like without any masks or any social distancing. They were probably 2 feet close because the back of a truck is pretty small-large but small- and were acting like the world isn’t in a race trying to make a vaccine to cure the pandemic. I mean, they were so careless. Just hanging out together, and so carefree Like they were thinking the virus is just a hoax, and they were invincible. probably not but just a thought. Like before, when a group of young adults went out to a party and thinking they were invincible and the virus couldn’t touch them. Well, they all ended up getting infected. More people just get infected by these small things.  It’s incredibly important to stay away and wash your hands often, wear a mask in public, and wear gloves if you are going out and are going to touch things. When washing your hands, follow these instructions:

1. Wash hands with soap and water
2. Wash your hands for 20 seconds, try singing Happy Birthday or the alphabet
3. Wash your hands thoroughly, meaning, between fingers, behind hands, nails, scrub well
4. Rinse your hands with warm water and make sure all the soap is gone
5. Dry your hands with a towel, preferably a cloth one to reuse
6. Do this after using the bathroom, coming in touch with any bacteria- mold, fungi- after eating, after coming home from stores or other places, after touching any insect or any soil- you never know- 
7. If there isn’t a bathroom nearby, use hand sanitizer and make sure your hands are “cleaned” before continuing with your work
Hopefully, doing this can help reduce the number of cases and have fewer infections. I hope everyone stays safe, healthy, and strong during these times. I hope everyone has an excellent evening. 
Strawberry Plant
Okra and Cucumber are growing, the watermelon is still waiting
Bell Peppers and beans
More peppers and one more plant- I forgot the name
Pineapple to the left, and the two avocado seeds on the right

Life of a 12 year old- Coronavirus Lockdown- Part 41

Soooo, remember what I wrote yesterday as my ending- the question? Well, it seems like I have my own answer, and I did not realize that the articles were like dirty politics. I had no idea, I am truly sorry. President Trump actually made a Cares act during this time to help the small business owners, preserves jobs for American industries and provides fast and direct economic assistance for American workers. The Cares Act is a $2 Trillion package. ( The further info is used from here) It lays out economic aid payments to U.S. citizens. According to this article. However, this act did not include provisions or made few provisions for immigrants and their families. Wait, why??  Is that because they are not citizens? But they still should get the same. What if they were an employee at a small business and were trying to support their family, and had a young child? One question. Does this act go to the small business employees as well, or just the owners? My next research question. Anyway, there is also a Heroes act. This act is a $3 trillion package meant to attack the coronavirus and the economic effects in the U.S. To be very honest and very clear, I have very little knowledge and facts on this act, as well as many. This one is the most recent and is one of the things that are trying to help us during the pandemic, so I should know at least 2x as much as I know right now about this. By the way, as a side note, it is 6:39 P.M. so I really need to work faster. I admit I am not the best typer in the world for a middle-schooler. I may have to cut some thoughts and stuff short, making this sound pretty mediocre and half-written so, apologies for that. I’m going to continue on this tomorrow when I have actually a better planned out schedule.

Ok, so today I have a new addition to my overly excited garden. An Avacado plant. Technically, an Avacado seed hanging in the water and supported by three toothpicks. My cucumber and okra plants have started sprouting. Yaaay!!!!!!!! My strawberry will take some time though, as well as my watermelon. No sign of growing from my bell peppers and beans, or the mangoes, though that will takes years. Next, we picked up my stuff from school. Sooo much stuff!!! It is still in Mumma’s car, just in case, and we will open the bag tomorrow. Hopefully, all my stuff is there, including my awards and stuff. I am so excited!! MS Orchestra Audition results come out tomorrow!!!!! Tomorrow, I’ll know if I got into Chamber or not. I mean, it’s fine if I’m not. I’ll just know that I needed to work on a few things and that will get me well prepared and better for the next audition. What else??????????????? Oh, dad sent this blog site to me. It’s his friend’s daughter’s site, and it’s pretty cool. Her site is well structured, and her thoughts are more simple yet strong and persuasive. I think you should read the posts. Here’s the link. I enjoyed reading her posts and how much care and determination she has to make sure people stay safe and healthy during COVID-19! 

Life of 12 year old- Coronavirus lockdown- Part 40

Headlines of an opinionated article written on, TheWashingtonPost. Written by Mr. Paul Waldman, this article describes Mr. Waldman’s thoughts on how little President Trump is and how small his presidency is as well. Mr. Waldman says, ” …faced with a death toll from COVID-19 of 90,000 Americans and counting, Trump has pretty much decided that he’s done all he can and managing the pandemic will have to be left to somebody else…” To back up his thoughts, Mr. Waldman explained that Mr. President had said to Reuters, a news organization company, in April 2017, a few months into his presidency, “… I loved my previous life. I had so many things going on. This is more work than in my previous life. I thought this would be easier…” Mr. Wladman talks about how President trump must have sawn the public parts of being a President on TV and assumed that being the leader of the United States government, the, “…largest organization on Planet Earth- dealing with foreign and domestic policy, confronting natural and man-made disasters, trying to solve short- and long-term problems…”, would be easy. Here’s my question about this. If President Trump really thought this was harder than his previous life, and actually stated this to a news organization, then why does he want to run again for the presidency? Maybe he changed his mind and wanted to do this again, run the country again. I mean, that’s fine. But a president needs to know well. ( Sorry Mr. President, I didn’t know the right word.) Another news article –> What our leaders can do now. If you remember, in part 10 I wrote about a blog from Mr. Bill Gates. This is the blog. Now, if you remember, I mentioned/ Mr. Gates talked about hydroxychloroquine, which is a drug that can treat and prevent malaria, as well as treat lupus and arthritis. Mr. Gates wrote that people started hoarding the drug and made it difficult for lupus patients who need it to survive, find it. He mentioned this drug when talking about not stoking rumors. It was said that this was approved as an emergency treatment. I think that we shouldn’t be taking this drug. It is only meant to be used for lupus, arthritis, and malaria. Yes, it may be approved, but you shouldn’t. More people may die because of not having the drug- those who actually need it- rather than Corona. ( Though a lot more people would be sick from Corona.) Just announced recently that Mr. Presidnet has been taking this drug, has caused many stories to inch forward on this topic. From Fox News, President Trump defends the drug. Not only does he defend it, but he also hits back at the Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi saying that she is a waste of time, a sick woman, and has a lot of mental problems after she stated, “Trump shouldn’t take the unproven drug, especially given his age and weight…” Ok, both of them went too far, Mr. Presidnet went a bit more. Yes, Ms. Pelosi was giving a point on how the President should not have been taking the drug, but maybe she shouldn’t have added anything about his weight and age. I’m not sure in what way she was trying to say this. I understand that after this being said, Mr. President would be upset about someone talking about him like that, but he went too far. Calling someone sick, other than in a slang way and if that person is ill, is not very nice or appropriate. As well as saying they have mental problems. Maybe he was just upset, but still, it was not very appropriate to say. Mr. president defends the drug saying that it gives an additional safety level. First, it is not proven that it is. Second, you shouldn’t take anything that is not meant to be used. Meaning, you shouldn’t take the hydroxychloroquine drug because it is more important for people who really need it, with lupus, and without consent. ( Now I sound like I’m repeating myself) President Trump should have asked his doctor or someone is the scientific or medical field or at least someone who knows and studies medicine and vaccines about taking this drug. I now understand, why Mr. Waldman wrote about Mr. President’s presidency. Mr. President took a drug that is unproven, which he believes is an additional safety level, and is meant for people who have lupus and need it to survive; and people have been hoarding it, making it difficult for the lupus patients to find. This may be leading to some deaths- I am not very sure if it is, and Mr. President isn’t making enough decisions or maybe the best ones to help us during the pandemic. We have over 1 million cases, and though we have the most number of tests, it isn’t the best. Thousand of Americans are dying and hospital staff and researches are trying their hardest to get the virus under control. The real question is, What is President Trump doing for our country during this pandemic?